Chinese jets enter Taiwan airspace again during US officials’ visit
By Yu-Tzu Chiu and Ryan Ho Kilpatrick
TAIPEI – China threatened to go to war with Taiwan as its jets entered Taiwan’s airspace for the second day in a row on Saturday (19), coinciding with a visit by US delegates to the self-governing island.
At least 19 Chinese fighters and bombers crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s air defence zone, the Defence Ministry in Tapei said.
The provocation came as representatives of the United States and Japan visited the nation, and coincided with a memorial ceremony for former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui, who died on July 30.
Taiwan’s air force “scrambled fighters and deployed the air defence missile system to monitor activities,” a statement said.
The ministry described the Chinese aircraft as 12 J-16 fighters, two J-10 fighters, two J-11 fighters, two H-6 bombers and one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
Saturday’s incursion came as Chinese State media threatened to “wipe out” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, on the first day of a forum in Xiamen intended to facilitate peace between both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
An editorial by the government-affiliated Global Times said that military drills currently being carried out by the People’s Liberation Army in and around the Strait were “not a warning but a rehearsal for [the] Taiwan takeover.”
China, which regards the island as part of its territory, “is determined to take all necessary means, including military options” to prevent the US and Taiwan from deepening ties, the editorial read.
If Taipei violates China’s 2005 Anti-Secession Law, the tabloid warned in a tweet, “a war will be set off and Tsai will be wiped out.”
On Friday (18), at least 18 Chinese fighters and bombers entered Taiwan’s airspace.
Tsai and high-ranking Taiwanese officials had met that day with Keith Krach, the highest-ranking US official from the State Department to visit the island in decades.
On Saturday, Tsai, together with US delegation members led by Krach and representatives from Japan, including former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori, paid tribute to Lee, who played a key role in Taiwan’s democratization during his 12-year tenure, which ended in 2000.
“We have a responsibility to continue his endeavours allowing the will of the people to reshape Taiwan, further defining Taiwan’s identity and deepening and bolstering democracy and freedom,” Tsai said at the ceremony.
Lee’s close friends, including former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and the Dalai Lama, also expressed their condolences. “I admire his commitment to democracy and freedom. So most probably he will be reborn in Taiwan,” the Dalai Lama said in a video.
Of the region’s security and Chinese military threats, Mori told reporters that the world was changing but that “an era of using force to resolve disputes must end,” state-run Central News Agency reported.
Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the intrusion by Chinese fighter jets over two consecutive days gave US and Japanese representatives visiting Taiwan a chance to feel China’s intimidation in person, CNA reported.
Krach wrapped up his three-day visit to Taiwan late on Saturday.
-dpa