Kinas president Xi Jinping. Foto: Beto Barata / PR / Wikimedia Commons (utsnitt).

Tyve kinesiske krigsfly fløy inn i Taiwans luftrom fredag, den største krenkelsen som noensinne er rapportert. Spenningsnivået steg dramatisk. I denne sonen blir fly bedt om å identifisere seg for å unngå misforståelser. Skulle et kinesisk fly bli skutt ned, er det ingen som vet utfallet. Kina har vist en pågående holdning til Taiwan den siste tiden.

Twenty Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Friday, in the largest incursion yet reported by the island’s defence ministry and marking a dramatic escalation of tension across the Taiwan Strait.

Kineserne krenker Taiwans luftrom nesten daglig, og Taiwan har begynt å offentliggjøre hendelsene. Dette er det groveste tilfellet så langt.

It marked the largest incursion to date by the Chinese air force since Taiwan’s defense ministry began disclosing almost daily Chinese military flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea last year.

En taiwanesisk sikkerhetskilde sier at kineserne øvde på å angripe amerikanske krigsskip som seiler gjennom Bashi-kanalen.

A person familiar with Taiwan’s security planning told Reuters the Chinese military was conducting exercises that would simulate an operation against U.S. warships that sail through the Bashi Channel.

USA og Taiwan undertegnet sin første samarbeidsavtale under den nye administrasjonen fredag. Den gjaldt et samarbeid mellom kystvaktene. Kina ga for kort tid siden sin kystvakt anledning til å skyte først.

Earlier on Friday, Taiwan and the United States signed their first agreement under the administration of new president Joe Biden, establishing a Coast Guard Working Group to coordinate policy, after China’s passing of a law that allows its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels.

Taiwan Reports Largest Ever Incursion by Chinese Air Force