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Taiwan sent fighter jets to warn 10 Chinese aircraft and deployed missile systems to monitor them.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated that just the day after Taiwan announced an increase of US$9 billion in military spending to respond to threats from China, the Taiwan Air Force has urgently warned 10 Chinese aircraft entering its air defense zone.
Taiwan, which China claims to have sovereignty, has been complaining for a year or more about the Chinese Air Force’s repeated missions near the democratically administered island, which is usually located in the southwestern part of the air defense zone close to the island of Platas controlled by Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said on Friday that the latest Chinese mission involves six J-16 and two J-11 fighter jets, as well as an anti-submarine aircraft and a reconnaissance aircraft.
The ministry stated that Taiwan sent fighter jets to warn Chinese aircraft and deployed missile systems to monitor them.
According to the map released by the ministry, Chinese fighter jets flew near Platas, while anti-submarine and reconnaissance aircraft flew into the bus strait separating Taiwan and the Philippines.
A spokesperson for the Eastern China Theater said in a statement on Saturday that warships, early warning aircraft and bombers were deployed on Friday to conduct patrols and exercises aimed at enhancing the Chinese military’s joint operations capabilities in the region.
‘serious threat’
The day before the incident, Taiwan proposed to increase military spending by US$8.7 billion in the next five years, including new missiles, and warned of the urgent need to upgrade weapons in the face of a “serious threat” from China.
China’s patrols and exercises also coincided with the passage of US destroyers in the Taiwan Strait on Friday, which the US Navy described as a “routine” passage through international waters.
The Eastern Theater Command, which oversees the military in eastern China, said in a separate statement on Saturday that the entire voyage of the USS Bari is under surveillance.
Taiwan’s Prime Minister Su Zengchang said in a speech on Friday that the government must take the threat from China seriously.
“The Chinese Communists continue to plot against us,” he said.
Taiwan’s defense expenditure is “based on safeguarding national sovereignty, national security, and national security. We must not relax. We must make the best preparations to avoid war,” he added.
On Friday, the Chinese government criticized Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Wu Zhaoxie’s remarks this week, calling Taiwan a “maritime fortress” preventing China’s expansion into the Pacific.
The Taiwan Affairs Office of China said in a statement that Wu’s “purpose is to deceive public opinion, win over and collude with foreign anti-China forces.”
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