Taiwan's military responded to a Chinese invasion early Wednesday after identifying 19 military aircraft crossing the country's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), amid continuous Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pressure on the self-governing island.
According to the country's Ministry of Defense, by 6 a.m., a total of 25 Chinese jets and three navy vessels had been detected. On March 1, local time, 19 of the planes breached Taiwan's ADIZ, while the warships and remaining planes remained in the Taiwan Strait.
According to a map supplied by the ministry, the fighter planes flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's ADIZ, following a similar course as when the Taiwanese military replied to another invasion in early January.
The CCP maintains Taiwan is a separatist province that must be reunited with mainland China, and it promises to employ military force to accomplish this goal. Taiwan has been a self-governing democracy since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, and it has never been under CPC rule.
The CCP conducts similar raids on a near-daily basis as part of "gray zone" tactics intended at intimidating Taiwan, wearing out its equipment, tiring its people, and lowering public morale. This involves cyberwarfare and misinformation tactics, as well as a never-ending push to deprive Taiwan of diplomatic friends.
In comparison to past invasions, the CCP's "intimidation" on Wednesday was very mild. On Christmas Day, the communist dictatorship sent 71 airplanes and seven ships toward the island in its greatest display of force since the U.S. invasion of Vietnam. Last August, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Taiwan.
On China's National Day weekend in 2021, Beijing deployed 149 military aircraft southwest of Taiwan in strike group formations, which the White House condemned as "destabilizing" and "provocative."
As the CCP presses the self-governing island, nearly doubling the number of military incursions in 2022 compared to 2021, Taiwan has upgraded its fleet of F-16 fighter jets and ordered 66 additional US-made aircraft, as well as purchasing a variety of other weaponry and extending the mandatory term of military service for all males from four months to one year.
Relations between Beijing and Washington, Taiwan's principal ally and supplier of defense weapons, have deteriorated as a result of China's policies toward the island, commerce, technology, and the South China Sea.
Top US officials have asked for further preparations in memoranda and testimony, suggesting the CCP sees a decreasing window for action and may strike on Taiwan within a few years.
The CCP maintains that peaceful union between the two sides is preferable, while the Taiwanese population largely supports the existing condition of de facto independence.
