Taiwan’s Defense Minister said that China intends to gradually deplete the island’s forces with continuous flights of bombers and fighter jets in the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters before a parliamentary hearing that the island had the necessary countermeasures to withstand Beijing’s “gray zone” war of attrition that includes all measures except armed conflict.
His comments came after the Taiwan Air Force was involved in interceptions to repel 27 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft. The fleet included J-10, J-11 and J-16 fighter jets as well as nuclear-capable H-6 bombers. It also marked the first appearance of a Y-20 refueling tanker, which traveled from the southwest to the southeast of the island.
Taiwan’s defense chief said the current situation with regard to the PLA was “extremely serious. “The goal is always to wear us out slowly,” he added. “They want to show that they have that ability,” Chiu said. “Our armed forces are demonstrating the ability to deal with it.”
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense began publicly reporting on ADIZ incursions in September 2020, before revealing that there were approximately 380 PLA ​​outputs throughout the past year. Taiwan does not mention the equally frequent US Navy and US Air Force aircraft that appear daily in its skies – mainly for reconnaissance purposes with Chinese forces.
Asked about the recent rise in Chinese military activity, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told lawmakers: “We will never succumb to Chinese pressure. Never. Never. Never.”
The US government of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump before him, are quietly signaling military support to Taiwan in their own way. In the last year of the Trump administration, US Navy destroyers made 13 passes through the straits of Taiwan, each time causing strong condemnation from China.
The Biden government has approved 11 crossings in the Taiwan Straits this year, most recently the USS Milius with Arleigh Burke-class guided missiles last week, just days after Biden’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. .
newsweek.com
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