Taiwan has been complaining of an uptick in missions by China's air force near the self-ruled island, which Beijing maintains is a renegade province. In purportedly the largest incursion to date, twenty-eight Chinese aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) mid-June.
The air force of the self-governing island of Taiwan scrambled jets on Sunday after its defence ministry reported that 19 aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers, had breached Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
Taiwanese combat jets were dispatched in a warning to the Chinese aircraft, said the ministry, while missile systems monitored the progress of the Chinese air force planes. Taiwan, which split from China during a civil war that resulted in the Communist Party taking control of the mainland in 1949, has been vociferously complaining of repeated missions carried out by China's air force near the island. The reported incursions occur mainly in the southwestern part of its air defence zone near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
A map provided by Taiwan's defence ministry indicated that on this occasion, Chinese aircraft flew across an area closer to the Chinese than Taiwanese coast. The breach was accordingly estimated to have occurred northeast of the Pratas.
According to Taiwan's defence officials, the latest Chinese mission involved 10 J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, four H-6 bombers, capable of carrying…
