TAIPEI: Multiple Chinese military aircraft approached Taiwan for a second consecutive day on Saturday as the country bid farewell to the late Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, dubbed “Mr Democracy” for ending autocratic rule in Taipei in favour of free elections.
The Taiwanese defence ministry said 19 Chinese aircraft were involved in Saturday’s exercises – 12 J-16 fighters, two J-10 fighters, two J-11 fighters, two H-6 bombers and one Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft.
Some of the aircraft crossed the sensitive Taiwan Strait midline and others flew into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone off its southwest coast.
According to a map the ministry provided, none got close to mainland Taiwan itself or flew over it. “ROCAF scrambled fighters, and deployed air defence missile system to monitor the activities,” the ministry said in a tweet, referring to the Republic of China Air Force, the formal name of Taiwan’s air force.
Taiwan’s defence ministry, in a separate statement, said China was carrying out provocative activities, seriously damaging peace and stability.
“The Defence Ministry sternly condemns this, and calls on the mainland authorities to control themselves and pull back from the edge.”
China had on Friday announced combat drills near the Taiwan Strait and denounced what it called collusion between the island and the US.
The US under secretary for economic affairs, Keith Krach, arrived in Taipei on Thursday for a three-day visit, the most senior State Department official to visit Taiwan in four decades.