Taiwan says military under pressure from China as missions mount

Taiwan’s military has launched aircraft to intercept Chinese planes more than twice as often so far in 2020 as the whole of last year, the island’s defence ministry said on Tuesday, saying Beijing was creating a severe security challenge for the self-ruled island. In a report to parliament, a copy of which was reviewed by the Reuters news agency, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the air force had scrambled 4,132 times so far this year, up 129 percent compared with all of 2019, according to Reuters’ calculations. China “is trying to use unilateral military actions to change the security status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and at the same time is testing our response, increasing pressure on our air defences and shrinking our space for activity,” it said. Beijing claims democratic Taiwan is part of its territory, and has stepped up its military activities near the island since Tsai Ing-wen was first elected president in 2016. Manoeuvres have intensified since she assumed a second term in January and as the United States has stepped up support for the island. In the past few weeks, Chinese fighter jets have crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait, which normally serves as an official buffer between the island and the mainland, and have flown into Taiwan’s southwestern air defence identification zone. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">