Taiwan’s air force was once again forced to scramble fighter jets to respond to a Chinese probing of its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), with the Red Chinese this time sending a massive flight of 30 aircraft that were conducting maneuvers inside the Taiwanese ADIZ.
And while 30 jets might not sound like a massive number given the immense size of the American Air Force and Naval Air Force, it’s one of the largest Red Chinese breaches of Taiwan’s ADIZ on record.
Bloomberg, in fact, noted that it might be the third largest, only being beaten out by an October 4th breach that involved 56 planes and a January 2022 breach that involved 39 planes.
According to the Taiwanese defense ministry, the breach involved not only 22 fighter jets, but also electronic warfare aircraft, early warning aircraft, and antisubmarine aircraft. It did not, however, include the nuclear-capable bombers that often accompany such probes and maneuvers.
In response, the Taiwanese were forced to scramble fighter jets to respond to the Chinese intrusion and track the communist Chinese aircraft with missile defense batteries.
Reuters, giving context to the Chinese probes of the Taiwanese ADIZ, notes that:
China’s military said last week it had recently conducted an exercise around Taiwan as a “solemn warning” against its “collusion” with the United States.
That came after U.S. President Joe Biden angered China by appearing to signal a change in a U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan by saying the United States would get involved militarily if China were to attack the island.
China has stepped up pressure on Taiwan to accept its sovereignty claims. Taiwan’s government says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked.
Biden’s comment came during a May 23rd press conference, during which a reporter asked “Very quickly: You didn’t want to get involved in the Ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. Are you willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan, if it comes to that?”
Biden, in response, simply said “Yes“, a response that would signal a major change in the current US policy of strategic ambiguity regarding our commitment to Taiwan.
The reporter gave him a chance to walk that back, asking “You are?”
Biden didn’t take the opportunity and instead said:
That’s the commitment we made. That’s the commitment we made. We are not —
Look, here’s the situation: We agree with the One China policy; we’ve signed on to it and all the attendant agreements made from there. But the idea that — that it can be taken by force — just taken by force — is just not a — is just not appropriate. It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in — in Ukraine. And so, it’s a burden that is even stronger.
China furious at the idea that the US would start being more open about its defense of Taiwan, apparently decided to “respond” with the massive flight of jets and support aircraft it sent toward Taiwan.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
