China sends 39 warplanes toward Taiwan, largest in new year
By HUIZHONG WU
Associated Press
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has flown 39 warplanes toward Taiwan in its largest such sortie of the new year, amid tensions over the island’s future. Taiwan’s defense ministry says the formation Sunday night included fighter jets and electronic warfare aircraft. It said Taiwan scrambled its own jets and tracked the People’s Liberation Army planes on its air defense radar systems. Chinese pilots have been flying towards Taiwan on a near-daily basis in the past year and a half. The largest sortie was 56 warplanes on a single day last October. China claims the island as its own territory. The Chinese sortie came as the U.S. military said that two of its carrier strike groups were sailing in the South China Sea.
