China sends a record 103 warplanes to Taiwan

A flight map of Chinese activities released by the island’s ministry showed that 40 of the planes had crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait — an unofficial barrier that separates the island from the mainland that the U.S. drew in 1954 — or entered Taiwan’s self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ). It is the highest number of Chinese aircraft that have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ in a 24-hour period since October 2021, when 56 planes made the incursion in one day, CNN reported.

A flight map of Chinese activities from September 17–18 from Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense.

“The continuous military harassment by the Communist military can easily lead to a sharp increase in tensions and worsen regional security,” Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement. “We call on the Beijing authorities to take responsibility and immediately stop such destructive unilateral actions.”

Cross-strait tensions

The drills have come at a delicate time in cross-strait relations in the months leading up to Taiwan’s presidential election in January 2024. On September 12, China’s Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council jointly issued a 21-point plan to turn Fujian Province — situated on China’s southeastern coast opposite Taiwan — into a demonstration zone for “integrated development” with Taiwan.

That same week, China had sent 35 Chinese warplanes and more than 20 Chinese warships in the areas around the island, shortly after the U.S. and Canada had sailed their own warships through the Taiwan Strait. It was the largest-ever military exercise conducted by China’s naval forces around Taiwan, and included its second aircraft carrier, Shandong, which Taiwan’s defense ministry said passed 60 nautical miles from its coastline.

China has since announced that it will impose sanctions on U.S. aerospace and defense firms Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin for “deliberately supplying” arms to Taiwan. “We call on the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, stop arms sales to Taiwan, stop military collusion with Taiwan, and stop arming Taiwan, otherwise it will be met with China’s resolute response,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Máo Níng 毛宁 said when announcing the sanctions on September 15.

But two superpowers have been engaging in a series of high-level talks ahead of a possible meeting between Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 and Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting in November. Yesterday, Chinese Vice President Hán Zhèng 韩正 and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a “candid and constructive discussion” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to the readout from Washington. Blinken had raised a number of key issues with Han, including “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

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