BEIJING: Chinese bombers and spy planes have flown around Taiwan, the air force said on Thursday (Apr 19) as Taipei accused Beijing of trying to stoke regional tensions with its military drills. China sees the democratically-governed island as a renegade part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out reunification by force. H-6K bombers, Su-30 and J-11 fighters and reconnaissance aircraft took part in a patrol around Taiwan, air force spokesman Shen Jinke told the official Xinhua news agency. Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said the exercise served as a warning against those pushing for Taiwanese independence. Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Thursday multiple Chinese aircraft including bombers and reconnaissance planes were spotted on Wednesday afternoon flying over Miyako Strait – near Japan’s southern Okinawa island – into the western Pacific before returning to their base via Bashi Channel off southern Taiwan. “China has deliberately manipulated (the exercise) to pressure and harass Taiwan in an attempt to spark tensions between the two sides and in the region,” Chiu Chui-cheng of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council told a regular briefing. “(We) will never bow down to any military threat and incentive.” HELICOPTER EXERCISES Chinese combat helicopters also conducted live-fire drills with missiles off southeast China, state media said, without confirming whether the exercises took place in the sensitive Taiwan Strait. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercise took place on Wednesday and involved various types of helicopters that tested “all-weather operational capability of the air force at sea,”… [Read full story]
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