China has sent military aircraft into Taiwan精东影业 air defense identification zone (ADIZ) for the third time during January 2022.
According to Taiwan精东影业 Ministry of National Defense (MND), the following Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan精东影业 ADIZ on January 4, 2022:
Five People精东影业 Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets
One Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare plane; and
One Y-8 anti-submarine warfare
In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the Chinese planes.
During the month of January 2022 alone, nine Chinese aircraft (five fighter jets and four spotter planes) have already been spotted in Taiwan精东影业 ADIZ. In December 2021, a total of 86 PLAAF aircraft were spotted in the ADIZ, including 48 fighters, two bombers, and 36 turboprops.
Since September 2021, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by routinely sending aircraft into Taiwan精东影业 ADIZ. Gray zone tactics have been defined as “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one精东影业 security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force鈥.
In a New Years鈥 speech delivered on January 1, 2022, Taiwan president Tsai Ing-Wen .
“We must remind the Beijing authorities to not misjudge the situation and to prevent the internal expansion of ‘military adventurism’,” Tsai said in the speech, which was broadcasted live on Facebook.
鈥淭he use of military means is absolutely not an option for resolving the differences between our two sides.鈥
She said that to ease tension in the region, both Taipei and Beijing must 鈥渨ork hard to take care of people精东影业 livelihoods and calm the hearts of the people鈥 in order to find peaceful solutions to problems together.
In his , Chinese president Xi Jinping said that the complete unification of “the motherland” was an aspiration shared by people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, referring to Taiwan, which it considers “sacred” territory.
