A show of force?

China has deployed 71 fighter jets in military maneuvers over the weekend around Taiwan, the Taipei Defense Ministry said Monday, including 60 fighter jets, in one of its biggest daily forays into China. this day.

Beijing said it conducted military exercises on Sunday near Taiwan, which it claims, in response to "provocations" and "collusion" between the United States and authorities on the island.

In a message posted on Twitter, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said 60 fighter jets took part in the exercises, including six SU-30s, among China's most advanced aircraft.

In this daily update, Taiwan further indicates that 47 of these planes entered the air defense zone (ADIZ) of the autonomous democratic island, which constitutes the third largest daily incursion recorded, according to the database. AFP data.



Pressure on Taiwan

China considers Taiwan, with a population of 24 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. She sees with dissatisfaction the rapprochement at work in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which has provided the island with military support against Beijing for several decades.

Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has stepped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan as relations deteriorated.

One of the means of pressure increasingly used by China is to fly over the air defense zone of Taiwan with its warplanes.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,700 incursions of this type have been recorded, compared to 969 in 2021 and 146 in 2020. Beijing did not specify the number of devices mobilized for the exercises on Sunday, nor the exact location. of these maneuvers.

The “middle line” crossed?

Data from the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense indicates that most of the incursions were in the southwestern tip of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Some have also crossed the "median line" which runs along the Taiwan Strait and separates Taiwan from the mainland.

Flights in the ADIZ are seen as a way to deplete Taiwan's aging fleet of fighter jets and study its defensive responses.

Many nations maintain ADIZ, including the United States, Canada, South Korea, Japan, and China.

These zones are not identical to a country's airspace, but encompass a much larger area, in which any foreign aircraft are expected to report to local air authorities.

Taiwan's ADIZ overlaps part of China's and even includes a portion of the mainland.

The Chinese military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said Sunday's maneuvers were "a firm response to the growing collusion between the United States and the Taiwanese authorities and their provocations".

The American position

The rapprochement with Washington, begun under former US President Donald Trump, has helped to strain Sino-US relations, as the United States has officially committed to recognizing the communist government in Beijing as the sole legitimate representative of China.

On Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had expressed its "firm opposition" after the adoption of a US defense law, the "National Defense Authorization Act", which notably authorizes 10 billion dollars in military aid and sales. weapons in Taiwan.

The Chinese authorities favor "peaceful reunification" with the island but have never given up on the use of force to conquer it, especially if it declares its independence.

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