China sent 39 warplanes — mostly fighter jets — into Taiwan’s air defense zone on Sunday,
the island’s government said, in the second-largest daily incursion on record.
Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which sees the self-ruled,
democratic island as part of its territory to be reclaimed by force if necessary eventually.
The final quarter of 2021 saw a massive spike of incursions from China into Taiwan’s air
defense identification zone (ADIZ), with the biggest single-day coming on October 4, when
56 Chinese warplanes entered the zone.
The island’s defense ministry said late Sunday that it saw 39 warplanes from China enter
Taiwan’s ADIZ — the second-largest number of incursions on record, shared with October 2
last year.
It added that it scrambled its aircraft to broadcast warnings on Sunday and deployed air
defense missile systems to track the jets that entered its zone.
The warplanes included 24 J-16 fighters — which experts say are among China’s favorite
jets for testing Taiwan’s air defenses — 10 J-10 fighters and one nuclear-capable H-6
bomber.
It remains unclear why China launched such a large single-day mission.
But the incursions come on the heels of the United States and Japan carrying out naval
exercises in the Philippine Sea, an area that includes waters just east of Taiwan.
Ten US Navy ships, including aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln,
participated in exercises with Japan from January 17-22 “for effective deterrence and
response,” Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force tweeted Monday.
Taiwan only started regularly publicizing its data on air incursions in September 2020.
October remains the busiest month on record, with 196 incursions, 149 of which were
made over just four days as Beijing marked its annual National Day.
The defense zone is not the same as Taiwan’s territorial airspace but includes a far greater
area with part of China’s own ADIZ.
Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was elected president in
2016, as she considers the island a sovereign nation and not part of “one China.”
Last year, according to a database compiled by AFP, Taiwan recorded 969 incursions by
Chinese warplanes into its ADIZ — more than double the roughly 380 carried out in 2020.
Taiwan’s air force has suffered a string of fatal accidents in recent years as its aging fleet is
kept under constant pressure by China.
The air force temporarily grounded all F-16 fighters earlier this month after one of its most
advanced F-16V jets crashed into the sea during a routine training mission, killing one pilot.
