Will ‘fire back’ if attacked, Taiwan warns China after constant incursions into its airspace
DHARAMSALA, 21 Sept: Amid constant incursions by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s Airspace, the island has warned Beijing that it will “definitely fire back if fired upon by China.”
“If our military is attacked, we will definitely fire back,” Taiwan News quoted an official from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) as saying following a recent wave of incursions by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
China’s repeated incursions have forced the MND to hold additional training sessions at the Air Force Combatant Command to instruct Air Force pilots on dealing with the intruding warplanes, the unnamed official has said in the report.
The official has further said that MND has revised the term “first strike” to “the right to counterattack for self-defense,” with approval for such a counterattack being decided by the MND.
Though Taiwan and China have both declared that they will “not fire the first shot,” the source from the MND has stated that given the increased number of incursions by PLAAF aircraft recently,” this does not mean Taiwanese fighter jets will not fire shots under any circumstance.”
Two Chinese bombers and 16 fighter jets crossed the median line of the strait and a fleet of 19 military aircraft from China flew into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in the most recent incursions on Friday and Saturday respectively.
On both occasions, the island’s Air Force has responded by issuing radio warnings, scrambled fighters of its own and “deploying air defence missile system to monitor the activities.”
Further, Taiwan has strongly condemned China’s incursion into its airspace on Saturday and urged Beijing to exercise restraint and help safeguard peace and stability in the region.
