On the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beijing carries out the largest air incursion in history. Taiwan’s prime minister calls it “military aggression". The action comes as China and Taiwan clash over joining the CPTPP free trade deal.
Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Taiwanese government has reported 38 Chinese military jets in its air defence zone, the most massive show of force in the long history of confrontation between Beijing and Taipei.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence, the incursion took place in two waves on 1 October, 72nd anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China.
A first group of 25 aircraft, including bombers, entered the southwestern part of the air defence identification zone (ADIZ), outside the island’s territory and national airspace, during daylight. A second group of 13 planes flew over the same area in the evening.
Chinese fighters flew near the Pratas Islands, in the South China Sea just over 300 kilometres from Hong Kong.
“China has been wantonly engaged in military aggression, damaging regional peace,” Taiwan Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang said today.
No comments have yet come from Beijing, which considers Taiwan a rebel province.
Since the start of the year, China has multiplied its missions in Taiwan, whose independence Beijing does not recognize.
These tensions come at a time when both sides are at loggerheads over the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free trade agreement replacing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pursued by former US president Barack Obama to counter China’s geopolitical rise.
Taiwan submitted its application on 22 September, six days after China’s.