The Chinese communist regime flew 24 fighters into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), a day after Taiwan applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The Chinese air force dispatched two dozen fighter jets—the third largest daily incursion—to enter the southwest ADIZ of the Taiwan on Sept. 23, according to the Central News Agency (CNA), based on a map of flight paths of Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft released by Taiwan’s national defense ministry.
The aircraft types involved included J-16, J-11, Y-8 MPA (maritime patrol aircraft), H-6 strategic bomber, Y-8 electronic-warfare aircraft, and KJ-500 AEW (airborne early warning).
The ADIZ is a specific area beyond a country’s sovereign territory within which the country requires the identification, location, and air traffic control of aircraft in the interest of its national security.
To respond to the event, the Taiwan called out Civil Air Patrol aircraft, which issued radio warnings and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the activity of intruding warplanes.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense has tracked PLA aircraft activity in a real-time military updates section since Sept. 17, 2020, on its official site.
The high-profile display of force in Taiwan’s ADIZ came a day after Taiwan’s executive authorities announced they had applied to join the 11-nation Pacific trade group. Taiwan filed its bid with the bloc in the name of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu to avoid ruffling the feathers of Beijing, as it did in seeking WTO membership in January 2002.
Since 2020, the Chinese regime has stepped up its military pressure on Taiwan. Although it has never ruled the self-governing democracy, China insists that Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to take over the island by force.
Beijing’s largest daily military incursion occurred on June 15, when the Chinese military sent 28 jets into Taiwan’s ADIZ, after leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations issued a statement calling for a peaceful resolution of cross-Taiwan Strait issues.
Beijing labels any foreign government’s engagement with Taiwan as a challenge to its sovereignty. It squeezes Taiwan’s international space, trying to isolate the Asian democracy from global groups like the World Health Organization. China also runs afoul of nations that wish to establish closer ties with Taiwan, like Lithuania and Japan, who donated vaccines to Taiwan this year.
