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China sent a record 18 nuclear-capable bombers into Taiwan’s air defence zone, according to Taipei, just days after Beijing banned more Taiwanese imports in the latest sign of deteriorating relations.
Democratic Taiwan is constantly threatened by invasion by China, which sees the self-ruled island as part of its territory to be seized one day.
Since the 2016 election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who rejects Beijing’s stance that the island is part of China, Beijing has increased military, diplomatic, and economic pressure.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a daily update on Tuesday morning that 21 aircraft had entered the island’s southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in the previous 24 hours, including 18 nuclear-capable H-6 bombers.
According to an AFP database, this is by far the largest daily sortie by H-6 bombers since Taipei began publishing daily incursion data in September 2020.
Last week, China imposed new import bans on Taiwanese food, beverages, alcohol, and fishery products, prompting Premier Su Tseng-chang to accuse Beijing of violating international trade rules and “discriminating” against the island.
The H-6 is China’s primary long-range bomber, capable of carrying nuclear payloads.
China rarely sends more than five H-6 bombers in a single day. However, sorties have increased significantly in recent weeks.
Until recently, October 2021 had the most H-6 flights on record (16).
However, China sent 21 of the bombers into Taiwan’s ADIZ last month. The current total for December is 23.
Many countries, including the United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan, and China, maintain air defence identification zones (ADIZ).
They do not correspond to a country’s airspace.
Instead, they cover a much larger area in which any foreign aircraft must notify local aviation authorities.
Taiwan’s airspace is much larger than its ADIZ. It encroaches on a portion of China’s ADIZ and even extends into the mainland.
