Taiwan's Air Force Scrambles Jets As Chinese Fighters And Bombers Fly Around The Island

Taiwan’s defence ministry says mainland Chinese J-11 fighters and H-6 bombers flew around the island on Sunday. Photo: Handout

SCMP/Reuters: Taiwan scrambles jets as mainland Chinese air force flies around island

* Beijing says patrol was necessary action while Taipei says it was a threat to regional peace and stability

Taiwan’s air force scrambled on Sunday to intercept jets from mainland China that flew around the island.

Beijing said the flight was a “necessary action” under “current security situation across the Taiwan Strait”.

Taipei’s defence ministry described the People’s Liberation Army’s patrol as a threat to regional peace and stability.

Beijing has been flying what it calls “island encirclement” drills on and off since 2016 when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen first took office.

Beijing maintains that the self-governed island, which broke away in 1949 after the civil war, remains part of China, and that Tsai, who was re-elected last month, wishes to push the island’s formal independence. She says Taiwan is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

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