Taiwan able to respond as Chinese military activity rises

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/12/19
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) Taiwan will scramble jets armed with missiles if necessary in response to China’s increased military activity near Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Tuesday.

MND spokesman Chen Chung-ji (陳中吉) made the remarks in the wake of Chinese fighter jets being observed crossing the “first island chain” into the Western Pacific on a regular basis.

The “first island chain” refers to the major archipelagos off the East Asian continental mainland, including the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyu islands, Taiwan and the northern Philippines.

In the latest Chinese military exercise, a Chinese Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane was spotted Monday flying over the Bashi Channel — the waterway that separates Taiwan from the Philippines — then passing over the Miyako Strait that lies between two Japanese islands, before returning to its base in China.    [FULL  STORY]