Fighter jets cross a line in Taiwan Strait, says Taipei as it hosts US health official amid rising US-China tension

Beijing’s deployment of fighter jets is a ‘clear warning’ to Taiwan over US Health Secretary Azar’s visit

DPP lawmaker says it is time to discuss how China’s military coercion is escalating tension and fuelling instability in the region

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A J-10 fighter jet. Taiwan says Chinese J-10 and J-11 aircraft crossed the midway line of the Taiwan Strait on Monday, the same day Taiwanese leaders met US health secretary Alex Azar during his controversial visit.

Published: 7:30pm, 10 Aug 2020Updated: 3:13pm, 11 Aug 2020

Beijing deployed fighter jets that briefly crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait on Monday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, as US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar was in Taiwan for the highest-level US visit to the island in decades.

Taiwan’s air force said that for a short period at around 9am on Monday it detected mainland Chinese J-10 and J-11 aircraft passing the median point of the Taiwan Strait, crossing the unofficial airspace boundary between Taiwan and mainland China. In a statement, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had tracked the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighters with its land-based anti-aircraft missiles, and had “strongly driven them out”.

“The Air Force Command expresses that the deliberate intrusion and move that damages the Taiwan Strait situation has seriously hurt regional safety and stability,” the ministry said. “It should be stressed that Taiwan’s military has fully grasped all developments near the Taiwan Strait and airspace, and can respond appropriately to any changes in the enemy’s situation to ensure national security.”

The show of Chinese military might came as Azar met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, in the highest-level visit by a US Cabinet official to Taiwan since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. The US said Azar’s trip was intended to convey a “message of strong support” to Taiwan and recognise the success of Taiwan’s epidemic response, in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Relations between Beijing and Washington have fallen to their lowest point since formal diplomatic ties were established. The two have sparred over issues including trade, technology, ideology, the South China Sea and the pandemic.

At the same time, Taiwan and the US have bolstered their exchanges, as cross-strait ties have frozen over Beijing’s unwillingness to officially engage with Tsai’s independence-leaning administration.

Wang Ting-yu, a Taiwanese lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), tweeted in response to the incident on Monday morning that it was time to focus on Beijing’s provocations in the region.