Chinese planes cross border line into Taiwan

Chinese Planes have again crossed the unofficial border line in the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan Ministry of Defense said on Saturday nine Chinese fighter jets and a military drone flew over the center line in the past 24 hours as of 6 a.m.

Taiwan sent planes to warn the Chinese planes. Missile systems would have monitored them. According to the government in Beijing, the democratically governed Taiwan belongs to China. In recent years, there have been almost daily operations by the Chinese Air Force near Taiwan.

But now tensions are rising. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen is en route to Latin America, but will be making round-trip stops in New York and Los Angeles, respectively.

It is speculated that she will meet Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy. China has warned that such a meeting would be a provocation that will be responded to.

Taiwan has dismissed the warnings. The Washington government on Wednesday urged China not to use President Tsai Ing-wen’s stopover in the United States as a reason to take more aggressive action against Taiwan.

China held military maneuvers around Taiwan in August following a visit by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

A senior Taiwan official familiar with the island’s security plans told Reuters this week that China was unlikely to repeat such large-scale exercises. However, all preparations have been made in case China reacts “irrationally”.