TAIPEI—A total of 39 Chinese air force aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense zone on Saturday, the defense ministry in Taipei said, setting a new high in the communist regime’s aggressive provocations aimed at the people living in Taiwan, which provides a stark contrast to Beijing’s totalitarian rule.
Taiwan, a democratically governed island to which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to lay claim, has complained of repeated Chinese missions into its airspace, often in the southwestern part of its air defense zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands, for over a year, in a warning to the world over the CCP’s increasing military aggression.
Taiwanese fighters scrambled against the 39 Chinese aircraft in two waves on Saturday, the Taiwan Defense Ministry said. It said Taiwan sent combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese aircraft, while missile systems were deployed to monitor them.
That was one more aircraft than on Friday, the day that communist China marked its national day, which was at the time more planes than the country had ever sent before to harry Taiwan’s air defense zone.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that on Saturday the Chinese aircraft first came during the day—20 aircraft—followed on Saturday night by a further 19. Most of the aircraft were J-16 and Su-30 fighters, it added.
The aircraft on both missions flew near the Pratas, the ministry said, in separate statements late Saturday and early Sunday morning.
Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang condemned China for its actions on Saturday, saying the country was engaging in military aggression and damaging regional peace.
Wang Ting-yu, the co-chair of Taiwan’s parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, urged the international community to support Taiwan’s resistance to the communist regime by conducting joint intercepts of the Chinese incursions.
Taiwan’s foreign affairs minister Joseph Wu said on Twitter of the threatening actions by Beijing, “It’s strange the #PRC doesn’t bother faking excuses anymore.”
China is yet to comment.
It has previously said such flights were to protect China’s “sovereignty” over Taiwan and aimed against “collusion” between Taiwan and the United States, the island’s most important international backer as the traditional leader of the free world.
Taiwan marks its own national day next Sunday, with a major speech by President Tsai Ing-wen and military parade in central Taipei, which will include a fly-by of fighter jets.
China has stepped up military and political pressure to try to force Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty, which is ruled under the one-party communist state—a foreign political ideology to China.
Taiwan says it is an independent country and will defend its freedom and democracy.
