28 Chinese Air Force Planes Enter ADIZ, Taiwan Deploys Jets and Activates Air Defense System

Illustration of Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets overshadowing Chinese H-6 bombers (Wikimedia Commons/Obviously)

JAKARTA - Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said it saw 28 Chinese air force planes in its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday morning, amid increasing tensions in the region.

Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said that starting at 6 am local time, Chinese fighter jets, including J-10 fighter jets, had flown into the southwest corner of the ADIZ.

Several Chinese aircraft crossed the Bashi Strait to conduct exercises with China's aircraft carrier Shandong in the Pacific, the ministry said, as reported by Reuters, September 13.

Taiwanese forces are monitoring the situation, including sending air force planes and activating air defense systems, the ministry added, using the normal expression for responding to a Chinese attack.

On Monday, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese naval formation led by the Shandong Aircraft Carrier entered the western Pacific for training.

Separately, more than 20 Chinese warships, including a Type 055 destroyer, sailed through the Bashi and Miyako Straits towards the Pacific on Wednesday, a senior official familiar with security planning in the region told Reuters.

China's naval maneuvers, along with drills conducted by the carrier group, pose a "real challenge" to recent military activity of the United States and its allies in the region, the sources said.

"They want to show that they have complete control over the western part of the main island chain," the person said, referring to the area stretching from Japan to Taiwan, the Philippines, and Kalimantan, which includes China's coastal seas.

Last weekend, a US and Canadian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the US Navy said, the second joint mission since last June.

The two countries' navies also conducted a series of drills in the South China Sea this week, according to the US Navy.

It is known that Beijing often considers democratically governed Taiwan to be its own territory. Recently, Taipei complained about increased Russian military activity in its territory.