Beijing shows it’s ‘not taking its foot off the gas’ with latest incursion into Taiwan air zone
- PLA sent 25 warplanes into the island’s air defence identification zone on Monday
- Analysts say it was a bid to put further strain on the Taiwanese military and a message for Washington
Taiwan’s defence ministry said 14 J-16 fighter jets, four J-10 fighter jets, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft were sent into the southwest of the ADIZ.
Jon Grevatt, a warplane specialist and Asia-Pacific defence analyst at Janes, said the aircraft involved suggested the PLA saw it as similar to a combat air patrol, but it was also a show of force.
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“It [combat air patrol or surveillance missions] usually happens in territories that are your own – obviously, China regards Taiwan as its own,” Grevatt said, adding that some of the warplanes like the anti-submarine aircraft would have picked up useful information.