Their Fighter Planes Enter Taiwan Airspace, China Blames Foreign Intervention

JAKARTA - China does not tolerate the interference of foreign forces in Taiwan issues and must make a strong response to such "collusion" acts, Beijing said a day after their warplanes entered Taiwanese airspace yesterday.

Twenty-eight Chinese Air Force aircraft, including nuclear-capable fighter jets and bombers, entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

The incident came after the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) issued a joint statement on Sunday, highlighting China over a range of issues and underscoring the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Statements that Beijing considers slanderous.

Asked at a press conference whether the military activities were linked to the G7 statement, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the Taiwanese government was to blame for the tensions.

He said that Beijing believed the island's government was working with foreign countries to seek formal independence.

"We will never tolerate attempts to seek independence or haphazard intervention in the Taiwan issue by foreign forces, so we need to make a strong response to these collusive acts", Ma said.

Taiwan is known to have complained about a number of Chinese military activities near their airspace and waters in recent months. Yesterday, Chinese warplanes called Taiwan's Ministry of Defense flew much deeper in the southern part of Taiwan.

This condition occurred on the same day when the United States aircraft carrier group led by the USS (CVN-76) entered the South China Sea.

"The Ronald Reagan Strike Group did not interact with any Chinese military aircraft", a spokesman for Carrier Strike Group 5 Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley said in an emailed statement responding to a question about whether Chinese planes had approached them.

"During the South China Sea operations, all communications between ships and aircraft were in accordance with international norms and did not affect our operations", he added.

A senior official familiar with Taiwan's security planning said officials believed China was sending a message to the United States as the carrier group sailed through the Bashi Strait, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines and leads into the South China Sea.

"This is strategic intimidation of the US military. They want the United States to pay attention to their capabilities and restrain their behavior. Taiwan needs to pay particular attention to the fact that the Chinese military has started conducting exercises in the ADIZ southeast of Taiwan", the source said.

"This to some extent targets our deployment in the east and increases the air defense pressure around our ADIZ", he concluded.