Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense has denounced that ten fighter planes of the Chinese regime have temporarily crossed its security line in a new series of approaches, which the island’s authorities denounce as a pressure maneuver as part of Beijing’s sovereignty ambitions over the area.
As has happened on so many other occasions, Taiwan’s forces activated a provisional alert among their air and sea forces, as well as their missile systems. Xi Jinping’s regime had threatened unspecified retaliation if Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, now on a tour of Central America, ended up meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The president may meet McCarthy in Los Angeles during a layover on her flight back to Taipei from Belize.
China has sent warships, bombers, fighters, and support aircraft into airspace near Taiwan almost daily, hoping to wear down the island’s limited defense resources and undermine support for pro-independence President Tsai Ing-wen.
In a January memo, US Air Force General Mike Minihan instructed his officers to be prepared for a US-China conflict in 2025. This new incursion by China comes as Beijing prepares a possible blockade or direct attack on Taiwan, which has raised great concern among military leaders in the United States, Taipei’s main ally. Chinese fighter jets have also engaged US and allied countries’ military aircraft in international airspace in the South and East China Seas, which Beijing has called dangerous and threatening maneuvers.
Taiwan monitored the situation and assigned Area Force aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.