Bombers and fighter jets from China’s air force conducted encirclement drills around Taiwan on Friday, the latest round of increasingly frequent military manoeuvres near the self-ruled island that Taipei has denounced as intimidation. China claims Taiwan as its sacred territory, and its hostility towards the island has grown since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen from the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. That goal, coupled with an increasingly assertive stance in the disputed South China Sea waterway and around Taiwan, has rattled nerves around the region and in Washington. Taiwan is well equipped with mostly US-made weaponry, but has been pushing for Washington to sell it more advanced equipment, including new fighter jets, to help it better deter its giant neighbor. Military experts say the balance of power between Taiwan and China has now shifted decisively in favour of China, which could probably overwhelm the island unless US forces came quickly to its aid.

Source: Dhaka Tribune May 11, 2018 07:41 UTC