Recording, 18 Chinese Nuclear Bombing Aircraft Entered Taiwan's Defense Identification Zone

Illustration of Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets overshadows Chinese H-6 bombers at AIDZ. (Wikimedia Commons/Demonstybish)

JAKARTA - China set a record by sending 18 nuclear-capable bombers into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), Taipei said on Tuesday, shortly after Beijing banned Taiwan's more imports in the latest signs of deteriorating relations.

In a statement Tuesday, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said 21 aircraft entered the island's southwest ADIZ over the past 24 hours, including 18 nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, as reported by CNA December 13.

That's so far the biggest daily attack by the H-6 bomber, since Taipei first started releasing daily attack data in September 2020, according to a database managed by AFP.

A wave of bombers came after China imposed a ban on fresh imports of Taiwan's food, beverages, alcohol and fishery products last week, prompting Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang to accuse Beijing of violating Taiwan's international trade rules and "discrimination".

Xian H-6 is China's main double jet-engine long-range bomber capable of carrying nuclear payloads.

It is rare for China to send more than five H-6 bombers in one day. However, sudden attacks have increased dramatically in recent weeks.

To date, October 2021 is the month with the highest number of H-6 flights recorded as many as 16 units. But last month China sent 21 bombers to Taiwan's ADIZ. And the current tally, for December is 23.

Many countries maintain air defense identification zones (ADIZ), including the United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan, and China.

ADIZ is not the same as a country's airspace. Instead, they cover a much wider region, where each foreign aircraft is expected to announce itself to local aviation authorities.

Taiwan's ADIZ is much bigger than its airspace. It overlaps with parts of China's ADIZ and even includes some of the mainland.