source: reuters
Taiwan sent ships and fighter jets to monitor the second Chinese “joint combat readiness patrol” in a week near the island, as Taipei steps up its guard over Beijing’s activities.
China has pressured Taiwan by increasing its military presence around the island, and Taipei is on high alert for further Chinese actions after President Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing this month.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and operates its warships and warplanes around the island on an almost daily basis. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
Late on Monday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 21 Chinese aircraft, including J-16 fighters and drones, operating all around the island, which, along with warships, were carrying out a “joint combat readiness patrol”.
China’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taiwan’s defence ministry published three pictures taken by its own forces – one from an F-16 jet of two Chinese fighters trailing a Y-20 aerial refuelling aircraft, one of the Chinese warship the Yinchuan, and one of a Taiwanese navy sailor watching the same ship through binoculars.
