(Taipei) Eighteen Chinese nuclear-capable bombers have entered Taiwan’s air defense zone, the Taipei government said on Tuesday, a record incursion as tensions with Beijing are at their height.
Twenty-one aircraft entered the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the past 24 hours, including 18 nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday morning.
Taiwan’s ADIZ is larger than its airspace. It includes part of that of China and even includes a portion of the continent.
China has dramatically increased the number of its incursions into southwest Taiwan’s restricted area in the past two years, but this is by far the largest H-6 bomber incursion since Taipei began to publish daily data on them in September 2020, according to a database maintained by AFP.
Last week, China imposed new import bans on Taiwanese food, drink, liquor and fish products.
Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang has accused China of violating international trade rules and “discriminating” against the island.
The H-6 is China’s main long-range bomber and can carry nuclear warheads.
It’s rare for China to send more than five H-6 bombers in a day, but incursions have increased dramatically in recent weeks.
Last month, 21 of these bombers flew over Taiwan’s ADIZ, and the current tally for December is 23.
The 23 million inhabitants of Taiwan live under the constant threat of an invasion from Beijing, which considers the island as part of its territory to be reconquered one day, and if necessary by force.