Taiwan’s air force scrambled again on Thursday to warn away nine Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, on the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine, a crisis being watched closely in Taipei.
Highlights
- Taiwan’s air force scrambled again on Thursday to warn away nine Chinese aircraft that entered its air defence zone.
- Taiwan has complained of regular such missions by the Chinese air force over the last two years, though the aircraft do not get close to Taiwan itself.
- The latest mission involved eight Chinese J-16 fighters and one Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft, which flew over an area to the northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea.
- The number of aircraft involved was well off the last large-scale incursion, 39 Chinese aircraft on Jan.
- 23, and since then, such fly-bys have been sporadic with far fewer aircraft.