After sending 39 military aircraft into Taiwan’s anti-aircraft identification zone (ADIZ) on January 23, Beijing is showing no signs of lessening its aggressiveness towards the island in 2022.
The Formation was Massive
As per Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, the newest incursion featured 34 J-16 and J-10 fighter jets, 1 H-6 bomber, as well as four electronic warfare aircraft.
Taiwan’s military reacted by sending up fighter jets, transmitting radio alerts, and deploying air defense missile systems to keep watch over the situation.
From September 2020, when Taiwan’s defense department began releasing information on the intrusion, amid a considerable rise in the number of such aircraft, Chinese jets have been making excursions into the island’s ADIZ.
Two U.S. aircraft carrier groups have entered the disputed South China Sea for training, the Dept. of Defense said on Monday as Taiwan reported a new Chinese air force incursion at the top of the waterway including a fearsome new electronic warfare jet. https://t.co/ofB2S21bIo
— Newsmax (@newsmax) January 24, 2022
According to the Taiwan government, there were around 380 flights in 2020. 2021 saw the number of flights more than triple to 961. On Oct. 4, 2021, the Beijing regime’s strongest display of force occurred when 56 fighter planes flew into the island’s ADIZ.
There have only been five days this month when the government has not reported any incidents of Chinese intrusion.
With its continuous air invasions, the Chinese Communist Party is attempting to wear down Taiwan’s Air Force. More crucially, the communist dictatorship hopes to scare Taiwan into compliance so Beijing can take control of the island without resorting to military action.
However, as the Chinese dictatorship has never abandoned the use of force over self-governing Taiwan, war was always a possibility for them.
They were cautioned in October 2021 that Beijing would be able to launch a massive invasion of the country by 2025.
China is Flexing
According to Lin Ying-yu, an assistant professor of Asia-Pacific politics at Taiwan’s National Sun Yat-sen College, Sunday’s intrusion could be a tactic for Beijing to demonstrate its military might.
This comes in retaliation to joint US-Japanese military exercises in the surrounding waters of Japan.
Was just thinking that with the US and Europe completely distracted by Russia, now's the time for Beijing to send jets toward Taiwan and what do you know. https://t.co/A1rqXNYEd5
— Melissa Chan (@melissakchan) January 24, 2022
As per Japanese news organization NHK, ten US military ships, supercarriers USS Carl Vinson, as well as USS Abraham Lincoln, a destroyer and an amphibious warfare ship, participated in a six-day joint drill with Japan’s Naval Self-Defense Force.
The drill took place in the waters off the coast of Okinawa, Japan.
The combined exercise aimed to “strengthen the capabilities of the Japan-US Alliance for effective deterrent and reaction,” according to a tweet from Japan’s Coastal Self-Defense Force on January 24.
According to the Naval Sea Systems Command, another US carrier group, the USS Reagan, arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, after weeks of operation.
As per the Pentagon, at an electronic defense discussion between top Japanese and US leaders in early January, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin identified China as a danger to the Indo-Pacific.
“We’re talking against the background of rising tensions and threats to the free, stable, and peaceful Indo-Pacific area that we both seek. There are threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear aspirations and the People’s Republic of China’s forceful and belligerent actions,” Austin said.
