China is ratcheting up military pressure on Taiwan
Its aerial sorties near the island are increasing the risk of a crisis
IT WAS A deliberate provocation, patriotically timed. On October 1st, the country’s national day, China flew 38 aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, towards Taiwan (one type, the J-16, is pictured). They entered the island’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ), a buffer region where intrusions often prompt military alerts. It was the year’s daily record. Over the next three days China sent another 111 planes. In response, Taiwan scrambled jets, broadcast warnings and tracked the Chinese aircraft with missile systems. The island’s defence minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, called it “the toughest situation I have seen in more than 40 years of my military life”.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Too close for comfort”
From the October 9th 2021 edition
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