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Among the issues in the South China Sea surrounds China’s attempts to pressure Taiwan into being one with the mainland. As tensions remain between the two nations, Taiwan’s military has deployed its own warplanes to ward off Chinese jets that were making another incursion into their air space.
The island nation’s defense ministry claimed that Chinese military planes were making yet another incursion into its airspace. The Taiwanese military responded by dispatching its own fighter jets to ward off Chinese forces while monitoring them through their missile systems. The Taiwanese defense ministry reported that 10 J-16 and four Su-30 fighter planes and an anti-submarine aircraft from China made the incursion.
Four H-6 bombers that can carry nuclear weapons were also reportedly among the aircraft that made the incursion.
Taiwan has rejected China’s claim that the island nation is a breakaway province and Beijing’s seeking to reunify the two regions. Taiwan has had its own democratic government as well that has also resisted the pressure campaign by Beijing to accept its sovereignty over the island nation.
This follows ominous warnings last week from the defense ministry of the increasing threat that China is posing on Taiwan. The annual report from the ministry revealed that China is now able to neutralize Taiwanese defenses through soft and hard electronic assaults. The report went on to reveal that the situation was becoming more and more severe which was a change from the previous assessment that revealed that China lacks the capabilities to launch an attack on Taiwan.
The US has also openly supported Taiwan’s autonomy and democratic government, as well as opposing China’s sweeping sovereignty claim over the majority of the South China Sea. Back in July, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated the 2016 tribunal ruling that China’s claims over the disputed waters have no basis in international law.
“Beijing’s claim to the vast majority of the South China Sea has no basis in international law,” said Austin during his visit to Singapore.
“That assertion treads on the sovereignty of the states in the region,” added Austin, who noted that the US will support the countries who are defending their rights.
