Taiwan flags concerns over Chinese violation of air space

A total of 159 Chinese aircraft have entered Taiwan's airspace in the month of November with 149 planes coming through in the space of just four days in the month of October, according to AFP reports. China continues to put pressure on the self-declared island republic with constant excursions of military aircraft into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

100 fighter jets and at least 9 nuclear-capable H6 bombers were spotted in Taiwan's airspace according to the AFP database. New fears of Chinese aggression have emerged as this is the third month that China has continued to violate the ADIZ with impunity. October was the month that saw the most incursions as China sent 196 aircraft into Taiwanese airspace.

"[China's] intention is to slowly exhaust (us), to let you know that we have this power," Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Monday, after a sortie by 27 Chinese aircraft the day before, the biggest of the month but only the fifth-largest daily incursion on record. Kuo-cheng had also previously warned that China would be in a position to launch a full-scale invasion by 2025.

Beijing normally sweeps the areas that don't overlap with Taiwan's airspace but has upped the ante with fleets being sent in in the last 14 months, particularly after September. The US has responded to China's growing aggression by vowing to upgrade and build bases in Guam and Australia to counteract Beijing's hold over the Indo-Pacific region.

China does not recognise Taiwan as an independent nation, vowing to re-assimilate it into the mainland by force if necessary, a stand which has only firmed up since the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen who has rejected any kind of integration into the Chinese nation.