The number of Chinese fighter jets flying to Taiwan hits a record high

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According to Taipei officials, China flew 28 military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense buffer zone on Tuesday, the largest such invasion to date, a move that continues Beijing’s anger at warnings of military pressure issued by Western countries and their allies. Occasion. island.

The Taiwan Air Force said in a statement that these flights involved 20 fighter jets and 4 nuclear-capable bombers, as well as anti-submarine warfare and early warning aircraft. Previously, the biggest invasion was 25 Chinese military aircraft in one day in April.

The action was carried out after the G7 Group of advanced economies issued a final communiqué after the UK summit on Sunday. highlight “The importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” calls for a peaceful settlement of the China-Taiwan issue.

These remarks-this is the first mention of Taiwan in the G7 Communiqué-are the latest in a series of warnings on the escalation of tensions across the Taiwan Strait at an international forum. In April, US President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga issued a joint statement. statement This emphasizes the importance of peace in the region. This issue is also included in the Japan-Australia joint statement this month.

The tension in Taiwan is one of a series of China-related issues that Western countries and their partners often express their concerns. Others include Beijing’s treatment of the country’s Uyghur ethnic minorities, undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, and aggression in the South and East China Seas.NATO leaders warned this week that China constitutes “Systemic Challenges” An international order based on rules.

Beijing reacted angrily. This week, it accused the Group of Seven and NATO of “defamating” it.

China claims that Taiwan is part of its territory and threatens that if Taipei refuses to submit to its control, it will attack it. In the past year, Beijing has increased its military pressure on neighboring countries, and its air force frequently flies to Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

The air defense identification zone is not a sovereign airspace, but an area delineated by some countries to define areas where they believe that unannounced entry into their airspace poses a security risk, and will respond by, for example, scrambling fighter jets.

Defense experts believe that China’s invasion of Taiwan’s air defense zone is a tool Beijing uses to express its dissatisfaction with international support for Taipei. Admiral Li Ximing, the former chief of the general staff of the Taiwan Armed Forces, said earlier this year that these measures “are more about political information than about the significance of military operations.”

However, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force also uses these flights to conduct exercises in an area of ​​strategic importance in competing with the US military, which is important in any conflict in Taiwan or the disputed South China Sea.

According to a map Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced on Tuesday along with the Air Force’s statement that some fighters and bombers flew around the southern end of the island to the western Pacific. This is a route that Chinese military aircraft have only begun to take in recent months. ability.

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