Chinese military sends record number of warplanes to test Taiwan’s air defences

Name: Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone
Uploaded: 2021-10-02T11:37:16.000Z
Description: Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone

In total 38 planes entered the island’s air defence identification zone in two waves on Friday

Analysts said the move may have been testing the PLA’s capacity to wear down its defences and send a warning to Taipei

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Tsai Ing-wen, pictured at an annual training exercise last month, has seen the number of PLA sorties increase since taking office in 2016. Photo: Handout

Minnie Chan

Published: 7:37pm, 2 Oct 2021Updated: 6:26pm, 14 Oct 2021

The People’s Liberation Army sent two waves of fighter jets into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Friday, in what analysts described as a possible test of its ability to wear down the island’s air force and send a clear warning to President Tsai Ing-wen.

The combined number of planes was the largest yet and happened as Beijing was celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Friday.

Military observers said the manoeuvre could also be a way of warning Tsai not to make a “provocative speech” on the 110th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China on October 10, a date known as the “double tenth”.

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Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone

Taiwanese defence ministry scrambled fighter jets to expel the 38 People’s Liberation Army air force warplanes, which entered the island’s air defence identification zone in two waves in daytime and nighttime.

The defence said the first batch comprised 18 J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, plus two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers and an anti-submarine aircraft.

The nighttime sortie included 10 J-16 fighters, two H-6 bombers, and one KJ-600, another statement said.

Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang lashed out at Beijing for the biggest ever sortie into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The previous record was set on June 15 when 28 warplanes entered the island’s airspace.