Taiwan reports Chinese fighter and bomber activity as election campaign begins

Taiwan reported again, this Wednesday (22), that China is carrying out military activities around the island, with 11 aircraft crossing the Taiwan Strait, as the campaign for the 2024 elections on the island intensifies.

The territory is democratically governed, but China claims control. The local administration has complained for the past four years about regular Chinese patrols and military exercises near the island, as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei over sovereignty.

The island will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on January 13, 2023, and candidates must register with the electoral commission this week in order to participate.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which leads the government and which Beijing sees as separatist, registered its presidential candidacy on Tuesday (21), while the opposition is at odds over a possible joint candidacy.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that as of early Wednesday afternoon, it had detected J-10 and J-16 fighters, as well as H-6 bombers and other aircraft carrying out missions.

Eleven of these planes crossed the Taiwan Strait, flying in the airspace to the center and southwest of the island, working with Chinese warships to carry out “joint combat readiness patrols,” the ministry added.

The strait line had previously served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides and which Chinese planes now regularly fly over.

Taiwan sent its own forces to monitor the situation, the ministry said.

China’s Defense Ministry did not respond to calls seeking comment. The Asian country claims that its activities in the region are aimed at preventing “collusion” between Taiwanese separatists and the United States and protecting its territorial integrity.

Taiwan’s government, which has repeatedly offered to talk to China, rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s people can decide its future.