Taiwan yesterday reported the biggest breach of its air defence zone since October by China‘s Air Force, with its defence ministry announcing that its fighter jets took off intercepting 39 Chinese fighters in the latest escalation of tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory. Taipei has protested for more than a year about repeated Chinese Air Force missions near the democratically governed island.

Chinese fighter flights are often recorded in the southwestern part of the Taiwan Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) near the Pratas Islands controlled by Taipei.

Taiwan characterises China‘s military activities carried out in close proximity to areas where it exercises sovereignty as a “grey zone” war designed to exhaust Taiwan‘s armed forces, often provoking their rapid reaction, but also in order for Beijing to control the degree of reaction of Taiwan‘s armed forces.

The ADIZ violations and the allied exercises

The latest mission of the Chinese Air Force was carried out by 34 fighter aircraft, four electronic warfare aircraft and one bomber aircraft, according to Taiwan‘s Ministry of Defense. Chinese aircraft flew over an area in the northeast of Pratas, according to a map released by Taiwan‘s Ministry of Defense.

Taiwan has taken off its fighter jets in order to prevent the Chinese fighters from continuing their mission, and has deployed anti-aircraft missile defence systems to monitor the movements of Chinese fighter aircraft. There was no immediate comment from China, which has previously announced that such actions are exercises aimed at protecting its sovereign rights.

Although China‘s motive for conducting large-scale air operations is unclear, US and Japanese naval forces are conducting exercises in the Philippine Sea. This is a large maritime area, which includes maritime waters to the east of Taiwan.

The US Pacific Fleet announced yesterday that the exercises taking place in the region involve two naval carrier units “conducting training to maintain and protect an open area of the Indo-Pacific“.

The biggest challenge since October

Taiwan had reported the flights of 148 Chinese Air Force aircraft in the southern and southwestern parts of its anti-aircraft defence zone during a four-day period beginning on October 1, which is celebrated by Beijing, China‘s National Day. It also reports almost daily violations by the Chinese Air Force in ADIZ since then, but yesterday‘s number of aircraft was the highest in one day since Chinese aircraft flights in October.

No weapons systems and shots were used and the Chinese aircraft did not fly in Taiwan‘s airspace, but in its air defence zone, a wider area that Taiwan monitors in order to have more time to react to any threats.