Taipei: As part of what Taipei claims is routine harassment by Beijing, the Taiwanese defence ministry reported on Wednesday that it had observed 19 Chinese air force aircraft in its air defence zone in the previous 24 hours.
Since about three years ago, Taiwan has voiced complaints about increased Chinese military activities near the island as Beijing tries to bolster its claims of sovereignty over what it considers to be its own territory.
Despite the outrage this causes in Taipei, China has claimed that its actions in the region are justified because it wants to protect its territorial integrity and warn the United States against "colluding" with Taiwan.
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Despite being closer to China's coast than Taiwan's, 19 J-10 fighters, according to a map released by Taiwan's defence ministry, had flown into the southwest corner of the island's air defence identification zone, or ADIZ.
Using the standard language for its response to such Chinese incursions, the ministry added that Taiwan's forces monitored the situation and sent up its own air force planes.
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The aircraft did not, however, cross the delicate Taiwan Strait median line, which China's air force has been flying over almost every day since conducting war simulations close to Taiwan last August and which had previously served as an informal border between the two sides.
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The Chinese aircraft were flying in Taiwan's ADIZ, not its territorial air space, and no shots were fired. Taiwan monitors and patrols a larger area known as the ADIZ, which gives it more time to react to any threats.
The democratically elected Taiwanese government has repeatedly offered to hold talks with China, but it maintains that only the Taiwanese people have the right to determine their own future and that the island will defend itself if attacked.
