China’s incursions into Taiwan air defence zone almost doubled in 2022

China’s warplane incursions into the Taiwanese air defence zone almost doubled in 2022 as conflict gripped the region. With the United States and some western countries sending delegations to Taiwan, the situation has gotten worse over time and in response, the Chinese military launched multiple drills at the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese President Xi Jinping maintained that Taiwan was part of mainland China and after Nancy Pelosi’s visit, the attacks have grown considerably from the Chinese military.

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According to the AFP database based on Taiwan’s defence ministry, China has sent 1727 planes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) in 2022. In comparison, the number stood at 960 in 2021 and back in 2020, the situation was much better as the number of incursions was just 380.

The Chinese military has also deployed multiple fighter jets to just breach the border in the Taiwanese strait. The sorties also doubled in 2022 with 1241 such incidents taking place. The number was 538 in 2021 with the number going up considerably following Pelosi’s visits.

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The impact was also seen when it comes to drone attacks as it went up by 71.

“They want to show their determination, their will and to coerce the United States: don’t get too close to their red lines, don’t cross their red lines,” Lee Hsi-min, Taiwan’s former chief of general staff, told AFP. He added that the show of power is likely to increase in 2023.

In the recent past, Taiwan has expressed its intent to increase the defence tactics against the drone attacks and US president Joe Biden also sanctioned $10 billion in military aid to Taiwan.