PLA warplanes enter Taiwan air zone after US drills in South China Sea

Chinese air force sends 28 planes into air defence identification zone in what was seen as a warning to United States

It came after US strike group held exercises in disputed waterway ahead of regional talks aimed at easing tensions

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The show of force by China’s air force came after the US Navy sent a strike group led by the USS Ronald Reagan to the South China Sea on Monday. Photo: Handout

Published: 1:40pm, 15 Jun 2021Updated: 1:19pm, 18 Jun 2021

China’s air force sent 28 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Tuesday, a day after a US aircraft carrier group held drills in the disputed South China Sea.

Observers said the show of force by the People’s Liberation Army, its largest yet, aimed to send a warning to the United States over the exercises, which were conducted ahead of this week’s defence talks with Southeast Asian nations and China.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said the warplanes – including fighter jets, bombers, an anti-submarine aircraft and an electronic warfare plane – entered the southwest of the self-ruled island’s ADIZ.

“In response, [Taiwan’s] air force scrambled jets, issued radio warnings and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the activities of the planes,” the ministry said in a statement.

It was the fourth time PLA planes had entered Taiwan’s ADIZ this month, the ministry said.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said Chinese warplanes including J-16 fighter jets entered the island’s air defence identification zone on Tuesday. Photo: Handout

“The path of the PLA planes showed that they were flying towards the Bashi Channel,” said Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a government think tank in Taipei.