Chinese jet patrols stoke war fears in Taiwan

Chinese air patrols around Taiwan have sparked fears that Beijing is stepping up preparations for war against the island.

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Nicolas Asfouri/ AP.

Chinese air patrols around Taiwan have sparked fears that Beijing is stepping up preparations for war against the island.

The move comes after senior diplomat Li Kexin threatened at the Chinese embassy in Washington that Beijing would act according to its anti-secession law and use force against Taiwan if the US sent navy ships on visits to the island. Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy that Beijing views as part of China.

Mr Li’s warning came as US President Donald Trump signed into law the National Defence Authorisation Act, which provides for mutual visits by Taiwanese and US naval vessels.

Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Dong told The South China Morning Post yesterday that China’s air patrols were no longer merely symbolic but well-planned to collect “up-to-date military intelligence … indicating the People’s Liberation Army is stepping up its preparations for war against Taiwan”.

The PLA published a video on Sunday of an H-6K bomber conducting a patrol close to Taiwan, escorted by two Su-30 fighter jets.

The Taiwan Defence Ministry reported on Monday that two PLA Yun-8 transport planes — part of a fleet of such aircraft that includes several specially equipped for intelligence-gathering — had also flown near Taiwan on Sunday and Monday.

The ministry said it had dispatched aircraft and ships to “monitor and deal with” the reconnaissance mission.

China’s largest reconnaissance plane, the Tu-154, also flew close to Taiwan last month. Mr Wong said its radar was “able to survey and map Taiwan’s military bases, which will be very useful if Beijing launches a military strike against Taipei”.

A US Rand Corporation report said such flights began to be stepped up during the (northern) summer, their operational tempo “unprecedented”, involving at least six different types of aircraft. In August alone, the PLA’s Y-8 aircraft circumnavigated Taiwan four times.

The Rand report said such flights were also intended “to display China’s capabilities and resolve” by traversing Taiwan’s east coast, demonstrating a capacity to fly beyond the “first island chain”.

China’s President Xi Jinping has called for national achievements to mark forthcoming anniversaries, including the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic in 2019 and the centenary of the communist party in 2021.

PLA air force spokesman Shen Jinke was recently quoted by the Global Times as saying the force had “begun training with the aim of honouring its ability to win a potential war, which shows that the military is committed to its obligations in the new era”.

Taiwan is seeking to move closer to countries in Southeast Asia, and has approached Tokyo for support to join the Comprehensive Progressive trans-­Pacific Partnership, a regional free-trade agreement.

The return of Taiwan is not only an important aim for Beijing, but also a crucial step in “breaking out” of the series of archipelagos that have formed a barrier to its access to the Pacific.

Beijing-based military commentator Zhou Chenming said: “Taiwan is the key obstacle for the PLA to reach the Western Pacific.”