Taiwan conducts military drills to intercept Chinese warplanes

​Taiwan’s air force conducted drills on Wednesday to simulate the interception of Chinese warplanes amid heightened tensions with Beijing, Reuters reported.

Flight crews at a base in Chiayi, which houses US-made F-16 fighter jets​, scrambled to prepare the aircraft as alarms sounded.

The exercises were intended to highlight Taiwan’s military readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of this month.​

Chinese aircraft have repeatedly violated Taiwan’s airspace​ over the past several years​, with the latest incident taking place in November.​

“With the very high frequency of Communist planes entering our ADIZ, pilots from our wing are very experienced and have dealt with almost all types of their aircraft,” ​​Maj. Yen Hsiang-sheng told reporters​ about a mission ​late last year to intercept Chinese fighter jets, referring to the island nation’s air defense identification zone.

Fighter jets taxi on the runway on Jan. 5.
Fighter jets taxi on the runway on Jan. 5.
EPA
Air force pilots run a drill on the runway.
The exercises were intended to highlight Taiwan’s military readiness.
AFP via Getty Images

Although Taiwan is self-governing, China considers it to be part of its territory and has repeatedly called for unification — by force if necessary. 

Taiwan considers Beijing’s military incursions “gray zone” warfare that is designed to exhaust its forces by keeping them on edge and to test the military’s responsiveness. 

source: nypost.com