Beijing sends record 52 fighter jets to test Taiwan, raising fear of mishaps

PLA has sent 145 warplanes to the island’s ADIZ since Friday as part of its strategy to ramp up pressure on Taiwan and test its air defences

In addition to flexing its military might for Taiwan, the PLA is showing its strength before a joint drill involving Western forces in the South China Sea

Reading Time:3 minutes

99+

PLA J-16 fighter jets are among the aircraft to have made night incursions into Taiwan’s southeast ADIZ on the weekend. Photo: 81.com

Published: 9:12pm, 4 Oct 2021Updated: 2:14am, 5 Oct 2021

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 52 mainland Chinese fighter jets flew to the self-ruled island’s southwest air defence identification zone on Monday, a record number that has raised concerns of unintended incidents between the armed forces.

The island said it had scrambled jets and deployed missiles to warn off the mainland military aircraft, including 34 J-16 fighter jets, 12 H-6 bombers and two Su-30 jets.

It came after Beijing sent 38 warplanes to Taiwan’s air defence zone on Friday, followed by 39 on Saturday and 16 on Sunday.

Analysts warned that conflicts between Taiwan and mainland China could surface if the People’s Liberation Army made entries to the island’s southeast ADIZ – a major point of access to Taiwan’s eastern military zone – “a new normal”.

Beijing has sent 145 warplanes to the island’s ADIZ since Friday as part of its strategy to ramp up pressure on Taiwan and test its air-defence system. It sees the self-ruled island as its territory that must be taken under its control, by force if necessary.