Taiwan will not allow others to display military might in its territorial airspace, President Tsai Ing-wen pledged while touring an Air Force fighter squadron in Penghu that sits on the front lines of the country's air defenses.
Tsai said in the offshore county in the Taiwan Strait that she has full confidence in the nation's Air Force to protect the country amid rising military coercion from the other side of the Strait.
On behalf of the nation, Tsai expressed her gratitude to Air Force personnel and pilots who are on call around the clock to protect Taiwan's airspace at any moment.
"We will never allow others to display their military might in our territorial airspace," Tsai said, an apparent reference to China, even if its military aircraft have not been detected to date in airspace above Taiwan's territory or territorial waters, defined as waters 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometers) from a country's coastline.
Multiple Chinese warplanes, however, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan's southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) starting Sept. 16, and did so again on Sept. 18, 19 and 21.
An ADIZ is airspace over land or water in which the identification, location, and control of aircraft is performed by a country in the interest of its national security.
ADIZ is usually established by a country according to its national defense needs. However, no legal foundation for ADIZs is explicitly stipulated in international law.
Chinese military aircraft have often been detected entering Taiwan's ADIZ in recent years but not in its territorial airspace. - Central News Agency
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