ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

China flies record 56 warplanes toward self-ruled Taiwan

FILE - Chinese military personnel pass by the J-16D electronic warfare airplane during Airshow China 2021, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Ng Han Guan / AP) FILE - Chinese military personnel pass by the J-16D electronic warfare airplane during Airshow China 2021, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Ng Han Guan / AP)
Share
TAIPEI, Taiwan -

China flew 56 fighter planes toward Taiwan on Monday in the largest show of force on record, continuing the three days of sustained military harassment against the self-ruled island.

The first sortie of 52 planes included 34 J-16 fighter jets and 12 H-6 bombers, among other aircraft, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense. Later, four more Chinese J-16s flew toward the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defence identification zone -- a buffer outside a country's airspace.

The Taiwanese air force scrambled its fighter planes and monitored the movement of the Chinese warplanes on its air defence system, the ministry said.

China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. It refuses to recognize the island's government and has increasingly sought to isolate the independence-leaning administration of President Tsai Ing-wen.

Experts have called the flights and other military maneuvers by Beijing gray zone warfare, or any type of military action short of direct combat. Many say they do not believe the display of force and aggressive rhetoric, much of which is repetitive, will lead to war.

"We are very concerned that China is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point, even though the threat may not be imminent at this point," Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. broadcast on Monday.

Taiwan and China split during a civil war in 1949, and Beijing opposes Taiwan's involvement in international organizations. Taiwan announced on Sept. 23 that it had applied join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a week after China submitted its own application to join the trade pact.

Starting last Friday, on China's National Day, the People's Liberation Army sent 38 warplanes into the area and 39 aircraft on Saturday, previously the most in a single day since Taiwan began releasing reports on the flights in September 2020. China sent an additional 16 planes on Sunday.

The latest maneuvers by the Chinese air force bring the total to 814 flights.

In Washington on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: "We remain concerned by the People's Republic of China's provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations and undermines regional peace and stability. We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan."

In response to a similar statement over the weekend from the U.S. State Department, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said that the U.S. selling weapons to Taiwan as well as ships navigating the Taiwan Strait were "provocative action that harmed U.S-China relations."

"China will take all necessary countermeasures and resolutely crush any `Taiwan independence' plot," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement Monday night.

The latest flights have come in separate groups with daytime and nighttime incursions. The nighttime flights are of note, analysts say, because they're more challenging due to reduced visibility.

"They have the kind of confidence to operate at night," said Chen-Yi Tu, a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taiwan.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.

BREAKING

BREAKING

The New Brunswick RCMP is asking people to stay away from the Starkey Road area in Long Creek, N.B., as they search for an armed teenager.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.