Taiwan Warns Off Several PLA Fighter Jets

Taiwan's air force warned off several PLA fighter jets that briefly entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone to its southwest on Tuesday, the island's defence ministry said.

The Su-30 fighters, some of China's most advanced jets, were given verbal warnings to leave and Taiwanese air force jets "drove away" the intruders, ministry added.

Taiwan has complained that Beijing has stepped up military activities in recent months, menacing Taiwan even as the world deals with the coronavirus pandemic.

Beijing says such exercises are nothing unusual.

One of the PLA's most senior generals last month said the military would attack if there was no other way of stopping Taiwan becoming independent.

The United States has stepped up its military activities near the island too, with semi-regular navy voyages through the narrow Taiwan Strait.

A US C-40A, a military version of the Boeing 737, had entered Taiwanese air space with permission, though it did not land at any Taiwanese airports, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said in a separate statement on Tuesday.

The US aircraft took off from Japan's Okinawa island, where there is a major US air base, and flew over northern and western Taiwan on its way to Southeast Asia, Taiwanese media reported. (Reuters)