...
By Micah McCartney
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Chinese jets performed unusually unsafe maneuvers during encounters with Taiwanese F-16 fighter aircraft amid a series of military drills aimed at intimidating Taipei’s Beijing-skeptic government, according to a new report.
Why It Matters
China has in recent years steadily ramped up the scale and tempo of its military activities in the Taiwan Strait, including near-daily incursions into Taiwan’s de facto air defense identification zone.
Read More on World
Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory, though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the island. It has pledged to achieve unification, through force if necessary.
Newsweek reached out to Taiwan and China’s defense ministries with written requests for comment.
What To Know
A Shenyang J-16 fighter fired flares at one of Taiwan’s U.S.-made F-16s after it scrambled to intercept the Chinese aircraft as it crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on December 29 during exercises Beijing dubbed "Justice Mission 2025," the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing a Taiwanese Defense Ministry report shared with the U.S. military and people familiar with the matter.
During another incident, a J-16 flew "very closely" behind an F-16, "basically in firing position," according to the report.
In a third encounter, a J-16 flew in a "piggybacking" formation beneath a Chinese H-6K bomber to mask the fighter from radar detection. When discovered, the pilot reportedly rolled the aircraft to flash the missiles mounted underneath.
"It is not the behavior you expect from a professional fighter pilot but more resembles a gangster swinging his gun around as they walk down the street," a Financial Times source said of the display.
...
Also, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that four People's Liberation Army aircraft sorties and eight Chinese naval vessels were detected operating around the island as of 6 a.m. local time. All four aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone, prompting monitoring and response from Taiwanese forces.
The incidents come amid a broader surge in Chinese military activity in the Taiwan Strait. PLA planes crossed over the air defense identification zone claimed by Taiwan a record 3,764 times last year—a 22.4 percent increase from the previous record set in 2024, according to a new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ China Power project.
What People Are Saying
Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore, wrote in an X post: "Beijing is intimately aware Taipei has expressly instructed Taiwanese military personnel to strictly abide by ROEs. Such dangerous moves are designed to bait the other party into firing the first shot in order to generate a pretext for escalatory moves."
Rush Doshi, director, of the Council on Foreign Relations' China Strategy Initiative, wrote on X: "Deeply irresponsible flying. And not the first time Beijing has done this to other air forces in the region. This needlessly risks escalation. Governments around the world should condemn it."
Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the PLA's Eastern Theater Command told reporters during a January 2 press conference "[Justice Mission 2025] fully demonstrates [our] formidable strength to combat separatism and promote reunification, as well as counteract external interference. It unequivocally signals that any malicious acts of provocation crossing the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with resolute countermeasures, and that any sinister schemes to obstruct China's reunification will never succeed."
What Happens Next
Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, said the PLA appears to be taking greater operational risks in its pressure campaign on Taiwan.
Glaser told the Financial Times a potential next step in Beijing’s escalation could involve PLA aircraft flying within Taiwan's 12 nautical-mile (14-mile) territorial airspace. Such a move, she noted, would significantly increase the chances of an accident.
An unintended confrontation in an already crowded and tense operating environment is a possibility.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines