China has sent a record number of nuclear-capable bombers into Taiwan’s air defence zone, just days after Beijing banned more Taiwanese imports in the latest sign of deteriorating relations, according to Taipei.
Democratic Taiwan is constantly threatened by invasion by China, which sees the self-governing island as part of its territory to be seized one day.
Since the 2016 election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects Beijing’s claim that the island is part of China, Beijing has increased military, diplomatic and economic pressure.
In a daily update on Tuesday morning, Taiwan’s defence ministry said that 21 aircraft had entered the island’s southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the previous 24 hours, including 18 nuclear-capable H-6 bombers.
ALSO READ:US To Provide Ukraine With Its Most Advanced Air Defence System ‘Patriot’
According to an AFP database, this is the largest daily sortie by H-6 bombers since Taipei began releasing daily incursion data in September 2020.
The H-6 is China’s primary long-range bomber, capable of carrying nuclear payloads. China rarely sends more than five H-6 bombers in a single day. However, sorties have increased significantly in recent weeks.
Until recently, October 2021 had the highest number of H-6 flights on record, with 16. However, China sent 21 of the bombers into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) last month and the current total for December is 23.
Last week, China imposed new import bans on Taiwanese food, beverages, alcohol and fishery products, prompting Premier Su Tseng-chang to accuse Beijing of violating international trade rules and “discriminating” against the island.
Many countries, including the United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan and China maintain air defence identification zones (ADIZ). However, they are not synonymous with a country’s airspace. Instead, they cover a much larger area where foreign aircraft must notify local aviation authorities.
Taiwan’s ADIZ is significantly larger than its airspace. It overlaps with a portion of China’s ADIZ and even some mainland.
