Chinese Warplanes Enter Taiwan Airspace for Second Day as Missile Tests Continue

Taiwan slams 'provocation,' says planes a threat to international air traffic

For the second day in a row, Chinese warplanes, including the Su-30, entered the identification zone around Taiwan. The planes were sent amid the second day of Taiwanese missile tests off the island’s coast.

There was no fighting, and after Taiwan sent up interceptors the Chinese planes withdrew from the area. Taiwan’s Defense Minister Yeh Kuo-hui says there is no way to predict Chinese behavior, and promised to focus on war readiness.

Taiwanese officials also issued statements condemning China for the “provocation,” and claiming the planes amounted to a threat to international air traffic. The focus again was on there being no way to predict what China would do.

And yet in practice China only sent the planes after substantially and highly unusual missile tests on Wednesday, and then sent the planes against Thursday when more or those tests were conducted. This sounds like very predictable behavior.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.