The Taiwan Air Force came into force due to the passage of nine aircraft of the Chinese army. Reconnaissance planes were warned to leave the island’s so-called Air Defense Zone (ADIZ), a standard response for such situations.
In response to the Ukraine crisis, the Taiwan government has called for increased vigilance. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, which must be brought back under Beijing’s control by force if necessary.
Taiwan has stated that China is increasingly flying through the ADIZ region. This area, which also covers a small part of mainland China, is not recognized by the Chinese authorities. The nine planes did not approach the island today. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, there were 961 violations of the air defense zone last year, a record number.
“Taiwan is not Ukraine”
In contrast to the escalation in Ukraine, Taiwan says it has not observed any unusual activity in China. According to the Beijing authorities, the situation is completely different. “Taiwan is not Ukraine,” a foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday. Taiwan has always been a part of China.
The spokesperson responded to the recent statements of British Prime Minister Johnson. He frankly likened the crisis in Ukraine to tensions between Taiwan and China. If the West does not live up to its support for Ukraine, Johnson said last week, “the reverberation of that will also be heard in Asia and Taiwan.”
US President Biden said in October last year that the US would intervene if China attacked Taiwan. Neither Washington nor Brussels made such a commitment to Ukraine.
China’s insistence appears to be gaining momentum. For decades, the country has essentially turned inward, but that time now seems to have passed. This video also shows the relationship between China and Taiwan:
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