Tensions mount in Taiwan Strait due to US & Chinese patrol aircraft – China alleges US of being inciteful

Taipei: 38 Chinese aircraft and six destroyers patrolled near Taiwan’s border. This included China’s jumbo bomber drones. Taiwan’s military is accusing this drone, armed with missiles, of hovering over its country. The US heavy patrol ship ‘P-8A Poseidon’ sailed through the Taiwan Strait while tensions rose due to China’s patrolling. China has objected to this and has warned that the US aircraft patrol is provocative. Meanwhile, it is claimed that the tension in the region has increased due to the patrolling of the US and China.

Last month, China’s People’s Liberation Army held its largest-ever military exercise in the Taiwan Strait. In this war exercise which lasted for three consecutive days, Chinese fighter planes and destroyers had crossed the limit of Taiwan’s ‘median line’. The United States and its allies criticized China’s military exercise. But on Thursday, China, which did not care at all, again challenged Taiwan’s air and sea security.

Moreover, 38 fighters, bombers, and six destroyers of China’s People’s Liberation Army sailed through the Taiwan Strait. Some of these planes flew to Taiwan. For the first time, this air patrol of China also included the bomber drone ‘TB-001’. The drone patrolled across the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines. After completing the patrol of Taiwan, the said bomber drone left for China.

‘TB-001’ is considered the biggest part of China’s military strategy against Taiwan. Soon, if China attacks Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army can use the TB-001 to target major cities in Taiwan. Chih Chung, an analyst at the Taiwan-based think tank National Policy Foundation, claimed that the drone would target the locations Taiwan has prepared for its reserve army.

Furthermore, China’s drones have hovered over Taiwan before. At the same time, H-6, a bomber aircraft equipped with nuclear weapons, also flew over Taiwan. But patrolling TB-001, a large drone armed with missiles, is also raising Taiwan’s concerns. The drone can carry 1,200 kg laser-guided bombs, FT-7 Glide, FT-9 guided bombs and air-to-ground AR-4 and AR-3 cruise missiles.

Meanwhile, the US Navy is said to have retaliated against China by launching a P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft on Friday. At the same time, senior officials of the leading companies manufacturing US defense materials will visit Taiwan in May. Claiming that Taiwan is an inalienable sovereign territory of China, China had accused the visit of US political and military officials to Taiwan of violating the ‘One China Policy’. Restrictions were also imposed on these companies. But regardless of China’s restrictions, there are reports that the executives of American companies will enter Taiwan. This has angered China and is accusing the US of increasing regional tension.

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