bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Minnie Chan

Chinese air force planes are likely to increase the number of flights close to Taiwan after its president’s controversial telephone call with president-elect Donald Trump, escalating threats to the self-governed island, according to military analysts.

China’s military has already flown a series of flights close to the island in recent months as it tries to ratchet up pressure on Taiwan’s independence-leaning government.
Concerns that the US may shift its policy towards Taiwan are likely to further increase the number of flights close to the island, the observers said.
 
Beijing was infuriated by the call between Trump and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, fearing that it undermines US policy that the island is part of one China.
The phone call came after the US House of Representatives on Friday passed the National Defence Authorisation Act for next year, which included for the first time a section on senior military exchanges with Taiwan.
Tsai says call with Trump does not reflect US policy change
PLA aircraft have regularly flown past Taiwan since September on their way to the Western Pacific to carry out exercises, missions viewed by analysts as putting pressure on the island’s government.
“There are some bad signals that Tsai’s administration is going to seek support from Trump, raising worries in Beijing that Trump may cooperate with her because his mindset is different from other American politicians,” Beijing-based military experts Li Jie said.
“Beijing will definably carry out drills to send a stronger signal to Tsai’s pro-independence administration because it will create a greater military deterrence.”
The PLA air force carried out joint operational drills in the Western Pacific last month with H-6K nuclear bombers flying through the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines and the Miyako Strait near Japan’s Okinawa island, the PLA Daily reported.
Japan scrambled eight F-15 fighter jets to shadow the planes.
The PLA aircraft never entered Taiwanese airspace and its air force merely tracked the flights.
PLA air force spokesman Shen Jinke said in September that its aircraft would make regular flights beyond the so-called “First Island Chain”, a line stretching from Japan and Taiwan which China says has been used by the United States to contain it since the cold war.
The PLA sent more than 40 aircraft to conduct drills in the region on September 26.
The exercises involved H-6K nuclear bombers, Su-30 fighter jets, early-warning planes and other aircraft, state television reported.
‘Beijing should not overreact’ to Trump-Tsai phone call, says US President-elect adviser as he visits Taiwan
A Taiwanese online media outlet Up Media reported that a PLA Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet briefly trespassed into Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone during the drills when President Tsai was about to inspect troops in New Taipei’s Linkou district.
The Macau-based miliary observer Antony Wong Dong said the PLA’s drills were primarily aimed at collecting military electronic intelligence.
“The PLA air force’s development has surpassed Taiwan because it had deployed several spy planes like the Russian Tu-154M,” he said. “Beijing now has the most advanced early warning KJ-3000, different variants of the Jian series fighter jets and bombers, as well as other sophisticated missiles carried by aircraft.”
Song Zhongping, a military commentator with Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television, said the regular flying drills in the Pacific did not target Taiwan, but the US-Japanese military alliance.
“The PLA’s long-term strategy is to prevent Taiwan from becoming a chess piece of the US to contain mainland China. If Tsai attempts to seek support from the US for its Taiwan independence plan, Beijing will definitely take military action,” he said.
Trump talk with Taiwan leader just a courtesy call, US VP-elect Pence says
Beijing has criticised Tsai for failing to fully back the 1992 consensus, a tacit understanding reached between Taipei and Beijing that year that there was only “one China” but each side has its own interpretation of what that stands for. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway Chinese province.
The Taipei-based political commentator Wang Hsing-ching said the public on the island considered the drills to be part of general pressure put on Taiwan by the mainland.
“Taiwanese believe the flying drills are none of the their business. It’s just part of Beijing’s aims to show the PLA’s military power when dealing with East and South China Sea issues.” he said.


Beijing’s pilot zone for economic integration with Taiwan running out of steam

Former Taiwan leader emphasises shared historical roots of island and mainland Chinese

Taiwan’s William Lai arrives in Hawaii for 2-day US stop on way to South Pacific

Former Taiwanese leader’s trip to security summit in Canada raises ire in Beijing

Tsai Ing-wen

PLA will ‘step up flights near Taiwan’ to pressure Tsai after Trump phone call

A file picture of a PLA Su-30 fighter and an H-6K bomber taking part in a drill in the Western Pacific in September. Photo: Xinhua

epa05509183 Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen speaks to Taiwanese army soldiers during the Han Kuang (Chinese Glory) 32nd military exercise in Pingtung County, Taiwan, 25 August 2016. The live-fire drill, simulating an attack by China, is taking place in several areas in Taiwan and will last until 25 August. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO

Tsai says call with Trump does not reflect US policy change

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, left, speaking during a "USA Thank You" tour event in Cincinatti and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, delivering a speech during National Day celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan. Photo: AP

In this Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, photo, President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Carrier Corp in Indianapolis. Trump is slated to hold the second stop of this "thank you" tour Tuesday, Dec. 6, in North Carolina, less than a week after his bombastic return to rallies at an Ohio appearance that felt more like a raucous campaign stop than a traditional speech by a president-to-be. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

News

China

Politics

Diplomacy

Beijing wants to keep up the pressure on the island amid fears the US may soften its stance on its policy that Taiwan is part of one China


Taiwan

China’s military