Taiwan Reports China's Largest Incursion yet to Air Defense Zone

• Published date: 25 December 2022
• Publication title: ASEAN Tribune

25 December 2022 (Voice of America) Seventy-one Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets and drones entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone in the past 24 hours, the island's government said on Monday, the largest reported incursion to date.

The incursion included 43 Chinese aircraft that crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, an unofficial buffer between the two sides that lies within the defense zone, Taiwan's

Defense Ministry said in a report, as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island.

Taiwan's official Central News Agency said it was the largest Chinese air force incursion to date, although there was no sense of alarm on the island, which has witnessed a steady increase in Chinese pressure in recent years.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, said it had conducted "strike drills" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to what it said was provocation from the democratically governed island and the United States.

Taiwan, which strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, said the drills showed Beijing was destroying regional peace and trying to cow Taiwan's people.

Some of the Chinese planes, mostly fighter jets...