According to Taipei,
this is one of the greatest Chinese incursions into Taiwan's air defence
identification zone since early October. It comes only days after an EU group
visited Taipei to strengthen ties.
On Saturday, the
ministry claimed it gave radio alerts and used air defence systems to monitor
the aircraft. The planes entered the ADIZ off Taiwan's southern coast, similar
to previous incursions.
The number of aircraft launched into the ADIZ is the most since early October when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent roughly 150 warplanes into the zone in five different drills.
What exactly is
Taiwan's ADIZ?
The ADIZ stretches
hundreds of kilometres from Taiwan's shore and even extends into sections of
mainland China. It is far bigger than Taiwan's sovereign air space, which
reaches only 12 nautical miles from the coast.
The ADIZ is designated
airspace for national security purposes, although it is not defined in
international treaties. Taiwanese authorities reserve the authority to require
aircraft entering the ADIZ to identify themselves and their intended
destination.
Although China has regularly
flown fewer aircraft into the ADIZ in recent weeks, the warplanes have not
breached Taiwan's sovereign airspace.