China's Military Flexes Muscles: 7 Sorties of Aircraft and 8 Ships Detected Around Taiwan

Image Source: Internet

Taiwan's defense forces have tracked seven sorties of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and eight People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels operating around the island's territory between Sunday and Monday. Five of the seven aircraft sorties entered Taiwan's southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones (ADIZ). According to the Ministry of National Defense, Taiwan's military has been monitoring the situation and responding accordingly. This month alone, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 125 times and ships 71 times, reported Taiwan News. The tensions come as China asserts its claim over Taiwan, which dates back to 1945 when Japan lost control of the island after World War II. The claim is rooted in the 1949 Chinese civil war, in which the communists took control and Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Nationalist Party, fled to Taiwan. China's claim is based on the idea that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, as Chiang Kai-shek and his government took refuge on the island. However, Taiwan argues that its indigenous people were already living on the island, making China's claim invalid.