TAIPEI, May 31(ABC): China has made the second largest incursion into Taiwan s air defence zone this year with Taipei reporting 30 jets entering the area, including more than 20 fighters.
Taiwan s defence ministry said late Monday it had scrambled its own aircraft and deployed air defence missile systems to monitor the latest Chinese activity.
In recent years, Beijing has begun sending large sorties into Taiwan s defence zone to signal dissatisfaction, and to keep Taipei s ageing fighter fleet regularly stressed.
Self-ruled democratic Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
The United States last week accused Beijing of raising tensions over the island, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken specifically mentioning aircraft incursions as an example of “increasingly provocative rhetoric and activity”.
