Taiwan targets 37 Chinese warplanes and activates air defenses

Several Chinese warplanes have called the Taiwanese Air Force and Navy into action. On Thursday morning, the military authority in Taipei spoke of 37 fighter jets, including H-6 bombers, which are said to have entered the Taiwanese air defense zone.

In the early morning of June 8, Taiwan activated its anti-aircraft systems. The reason, according to the local military, was 37 Chinese fighter jets that allegedly entered the island's air defense zone.

As the Ministry of Defense in Taipei announced on Twitter, the fighter jets included J-11 and J-16 fighters, H-6 nuclear-capable bombers and radar aircraft. The fighter jets had successively violated the Taiwanese air defense zone from 5 a.m. local time. The incidents were recorded southwest and southeast of the island. Several fighter jets were on their way to aerial reconnaissance exercises in the Western Pacific, it said.

In response, the Taiwanese military activated land-based missile systems and launched patrol aircraft into the sky. Warships were also sent to the zone.

Initially, there was no comment from the Chinese Ministry of Defense. It was only on Wednesday that China completed the second phase of its joint air patrols with Russia over the Western Pacific. In April, Beijing conducted a large-scale exercise around the island in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the United States.

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