London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

"Bullying Acts": Taiwan Slams China After Biggest Ever Fighter Jet Incursion

"Bullying Acts": Taiwan Slams China After Biggest Ever Fighter Jet Incursion

China buzzed the self-ruled democratic Taiwan with 38 warplanes on Friday, followed by a further incursion on Saturday by 20 planes.

Taiwan accused Beijing of bullying and damaging regional peace Saturday after Chinese fighter jets and bombers made their largest ever incursion into the island's air defence zone.

Beijing marked its National Day on Friday with its biggest aerial show of force against Taiwan to date, buzzing the self-ruled democratic island with 38 warplanes, including nuclear-capable H-6 bombers.

Democratic Taiwan's 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by China which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.

Under President Xi Jinping, Chinese warplanes are crossing into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on a near daily basis.

But Friday's incursion sparked a particularly sharp rebuke from Taipei.

"China has been bellicose and damaging regional peace while engaging in many bullying acts," Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters Saturday.

"It's evident that the world, the international community, rejects such behaviours by China more and more."

Taiwan's defence ministry said it scrambled its aircraft to broadcast warnings after 22 fighters, two bombers and one anti-submarine aircraft entered the island's southwest ADIZ on Friday.

A second batch of 13 jets then crossed into Taiwan's ADIZ later on Friday, in a rare night incursion, bringing the total to a record 38, according to the ministry.

That was followed by a further incursion on Saturday by 20 planes.

The ADIZ is not the same as Taiwan's territorial airspace but includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China's own air defence identification zone and even includes some of mainland China.

Rising Tensions


Mass incursions used to be rare.

But in the last two years Beijing has begun sending large sorties into Taiwan's ADIZ to signal dissatisfaction at key moments -- and to keep Taipei's ageing fighter fleet regularly stressed.

Last week, 24 Chinese warplanes flew into the area after Taiwan applied to join a major trans-Pacific trade pact.

Friday's show of force came the same week Beijing accused Britain of "evil attentions" after it sent a frigate to sail through the Taiwan Strait.

China claims the strait as its own waterway, along with most of the disputed South China Sea. Most other nations view them as international waters open to all.

Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taipei since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who has said she views the island as "already independent" and not part of a "one China".

Last year, Chinese military jets made a record 380 incursions into Taiwan's defence zone, and the number of breaches for the first nine months of this year has already exceeded 500.

The previous single-day record was on June 15 when 28 jets breached Taiwan's ADIZ.

Xi has described Taiwan becoming part of the mainland as "inevitable".

US military officials have begun to talk openly about fears that China could consider the previously unthinkable and invade.

Protection of Taiwan has become a rare bipartisan issue in Washington and a growing number of Western nations have begun joining the United States in "freedom of navigation" exercises to push back on China's claims to the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.

Britain sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait on Monday for the first time since 2008.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command accused Britain of acting out of "evil intentions to sabotage peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait".

Alexander Huang, associate professor at Tamkang University in Taipei, said he believed the latest aerial incursion was not just about sending a message to Taiwan.

"There's three other carrier attack groups in the region, two American and one British," he told AFP.

"China is sending a political message to the US and UK on her national day: Don't mess around in my area."

Canadian, French and Australian warships have all made voyages through the Taiwan Strait in recent years, sparking protests from China.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×