A long-range Chinese combat drone has been detected around Taiwan, the island's Ministry of Defense announced on Friday (April 28th). This type of device is capable of carrying heavy weapons.
Taiwan lives under the threat of communist China, which considers the island one of its provinces that it has not yet managed to reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.
On Friday, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it detected 38 Chinese aircraft around the island, including a TB-001 drone — also known as the "Double-tailed Scorpion" — between 6 a.m. local time (10 GMT) and 6 a.m. on Friday.
The TB-001 is one of the largest drones of the People's Liberation Army. It has a flight range of 6,000 km.
According to a map released by the ministry, the drone crossed the middle line, the invisible border between Taiwan and China unilaterally drawn by the United States during the Cold War, which Beijing refuses to recognize.
Military aircraft
Quoted by local media, the Taiwanese minister said it was the first time a Chinese military aircraft had circled the island from one end of the median line to the other.
In addition, the minister said 19 of the planes had "crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait" or entered the island's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), the highest number since the end of major maneuvers organized by the Chinese military around Taiwan in early April.
Beijing's show of force came days after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with the third figure in the US government, Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
With AFP
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