Chinese Fighter Jets Again Cross The Median Line, Taiwan Prepares War Equipment
Eight Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and approached the island's contiguous zone, which is 24 nautical miles (44 km) off its coast, on Saturday, June 24, 2023, said Taiwan's defense ministry.
The Chinese air force has regularly flown into the airspace around Taiwan for the past three years.
Since August, it has regularly sent jets across the median line of the strait, which previously served as an unofficial barrier.
Beijing claims democratically-ruled Taiwan as Chinese territory.
Taiwan's government rejects the claim and says only the islanders can decide their future.
In March, Taiwan's Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng warned that the island should be on high alert because the Chinese military could "suddenly enter" areas close to its territory.
Taiwan defines its contiguous zone as 24 nautical miles from its coast.
Its territorial space is defined as 12 nautical miles from the coast, although the government has not reported any Chinese aircraft entering the contiguous zone or Taiwan's territorial airspace.
Taiwan's defense ministry said in a statement that, as of about 8 a.m. on Saturday, it had detected 19 Chinese warplanes, including J-10 and J-16 fighters.
Eight of them crossed the median line and were "approaching" the 24 nautical mile mark, he said.
At the same time, the ministry said five Chinese warships carried out what it called "joint combat readiness patrols".
Taiwan sent planes and ships in response and activated its land-based missile system, the ministry said, using the standard wording of how its troops would react to a Chinese attack.
China's defense ministry has not issued a statement in this regard.
On Saturday, the Chinese military's Eastern Regional Command, which includes Taiwan, published images on its WeChat account of a J-16 fighter taking off on a "deep at sea" training mission that took place "recently".
The command said the aircraft conducted "long-range tactical flight training" which involved refueling on flights spanning "thousands of kilometers".
It doesn't provide details.
During China's last large-scale war games near Taiwan in April, training videos released by the Eastern Command showed its ships and aircraft coming within 24 nautical miles of Taiwan on all sides of the island.
The Taiwan Strait, which separates the island from its huge neighbor, China, is also a frequent site of US military activity, particularly as US warships pass through the sensitive waters once a month.
The US Navy this month released video of what it called an "unsafe interaction" in the strait, in which a Chinese warship passed in front of a US destroyer.
