China launched a total of 27 military aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, Aug. 3, as tension rises once again following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the disputed island nation.
According to the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense (MND), 22 of the 27 aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. (Related: ANALYSIS: Why China LOSES any escalation involving Taiwan and the United States Navy.)
The MND's data show that China flew 16 Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 and six domestically-made Shenyang J-11 and J-16 fighter jets across the median line of the Taiwan Strait. Five other J-16 jets flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's ADIZ, fully bypassing the strait.
This comes just one day after the Chinese military sent 21 military aircraft into Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ as Pelosi arrived in Taiwan.
On both occasions, Taiwan responded by sending its own combat air patrols, sending radio warnings and deploying defense missile systems to track the voyage of the Chinese planes.
The MND has published information regarding illegal Chinese military flights into Taiwanese airspace since Sept. 17, 2020, amid a rising number of similar intrusions.
The latest incursion is not even the one with the highest number of military aircraft. That record belongs to the Jan. 23 incursion, when 39 Chinese fighter jets entered the ADIZ, followed by 30 on May 30 and 29 on June 21.
China holds live-fire drills near Taiwan
The latest incursion into Taiwanese airspace took place a day before the People's Liberation Army, China's armed forces, launched live-fire military drills in six maritime areas very close to Taiwanese territory. Experts see the recent violation of Taiwanese sovereignty as retaliation for Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
The visit of an American speaker of the House to Taiwan marks the highest-level U.S. visit to the island in 25 years.
Beijing views any engagement between Taipei and Washington as a U.S. endorsement of Taiwan's desire to be fully independent from the mainland, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made it clear it viewed Pelosi's trip as a provocation.
Along with the military drills, the CCP also summoned the American ambassador in Beijing to a meeting and halted the entry of several agricultural imports from Taiwan.
The MND also noted that China's planned military exercises will take place within Taiwan's 12 nautical mile sea and air territory, a move that defense officials described as unprecedented and "amounting to a sea and air blockade of Taiwan."
Three of the six live-fire exercises will take place in Taiwan's north, between 37 to 11.5 miles from Taiwan's shores. The closest live-fire drill is set to take place less than six miles from Liuqiu Island on Taiwan's southwestern coast.
The last time China held live-fire drills this close to Taiwan were in 1995 and 1996 during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis.
In response to the military exercises, four American warships, including an aircraft carrier, were deployed to waters east of Taiwan in what the Navy called "routine deployments." But the Navy added that it would be able to respond to "any eventuality."
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan transited from the South China Sea to its current position in the Philippine Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan. It is operating with the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam, the destroyer USS Higgins and the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, which also carries aircraft.
Learn more about the CCP's response to the House speaker's visit to Taiwan at CommunistChina.news.
Watch this episode of the "Health Ranger Report" as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, explains why China will inevitably lose if it enters into a conflict over Taiwan.
This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.
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