Nearly 80 Chinese military planes have flown over the weekend in Taiwan’s defense zone. “It’s primarily about the message,” says the researcher.
Several bombers and more than 30 fighters, a total of 38 Chinese military planes, flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Friday, October 1.
Never had so many Chinese planes flown in the zone.
The record did not last long. On Saturday, China raised by one to 39. Over the weekend, nearly 80 Chinese planes have approached Taiwan’s airspace.
What should you think about it?
Researcher, doctoral student Ari-Joonas Pitkänen The University of Turku’s East Asia Research and Training Center says first of all that there is nothing new on weekend flights. The number of Chinese flights has started to rise earlier this year.
This year there have been 500 flights, which is much more than last year’s 380.
“A record number of machines was set on Friday and Saturday. In that sense, it is a question of continued development and an increase in intensity, ”says Pitkänen.
The old record was from July. At that time, 28 planes visited Taiwan’s defense zone.
The number of planes has grown steadily, but the threat of war does not seem to be the case.
“It is primarily a message,” says Pitkänen.
And the message is not difficult to decipher.
“This weekend’s flights started on Friday, which was China’s National Day. On National Day, a message will be displayed about China’s position on Taiwan. It’s about symbolism. ”
So China’s position is that China sees Taiwan as its rebel province, which will sometimes return to mainland China in practice as well.
Traditionally September-October has been a tense time for Sino-Taiwanese relations. Taiwan will celebrate its own national day on October 10th.
Taiwan’s air defense detection zone is not yet the country’s airspace. It is therefore not an infringement of airspace. China undeniably pushes the boundaries deemed appropriate, but stays within the allowable limits by touching the bar. Thus, Taiwan is not “forced” to be provoked by provocation.
Still, it is never a joke when dozens of military planes hover in the airspace of a neighboring state, especially when there is a frozen conflict between the countries. On Sunday, the United States expressed concern over what it called China’s provocative actions near Taiwan.
“Boundaries have been calculated on both sides,” says Pitkänen.
“But operations have grown significantly. The more flights there are, the greater the risk of some kind of mistake going too far, even if we were to stay within the boundaries. ”
The flights will put the capabilities of Taiwan’s defense forces to a halt, Pitkänen says.
“It’s technically challenging for Taiwanese planes to fly constantly identifying Chinese planes. In this way, China can also test the limits of Taiwan’s defense capabilities. “
In Taiwan the thing may not look as dramatic as one might imagine.
“The threatening baseline has been on for decades, and if ordinary Taiwanese are talked about, they often don’t get terrified of these,” Pitkänen says.
“Of course, flights have also been prominently reported in Taiwan, and the Foreign Minister has commented on China’s use as threatening and said the development was moving in a worrying direction.”
China has behaved more and more aggressively throughout the president Xi Jinpingin during the season.
Uho has not remained at the level of speeches, not even at the level of fighter communications. Hong Kong’s self-government has been virtually suppressed, and in Xinjiang, minority peoples have been cramped.
Is Taiwan next?
“It’s a question that’s a lot revolved around whether the events in Hong Kong were a prelude. It is difficult to answer that, because we know very little about what is being thought about in China, ”Pitkänen says.
It is easy to find similarities in Taiwan-Hong Kong relations with China. But there are also differences. Hong Kong’s position as part of China was indisputable. The events began to roll quickly in response to large-scale demonstrations.
“In Hong Kong, the development started quickly and unexpectedly. China set out to resolve the situation in response to the protest. “
In Taiwan, at least for the time being, Chinese teasing has not provoked. The country’s defense readiness has been called for to be raised, but real independence in the country is not widely pursued. Taiwan knows its borders.
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