TAIPEI — Taiwan’s air force scrambled armed fighters on Sunday to intercept Chinese jets that flew around the island claimed by Beijing as its own, in a move denounced by Taiwan’s Defence Ministry as a threat to regional peace and stability. China has been flying what it calls “island encirclement” drills on-off since 2016 when Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen first took office. “During this period, the national military appropriately used air reconnaissance aircraft and air defense forces in accordance with combat readiness regulations,” it said. It provided a picture of a Taiwan air force F-16 shadowing one of the Chinese H-6 bombers. Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said the scrambled F-16s carried live missiles.

Source: National Post February 10, 2020 02:37 UTC