{{Beijing has rejected Taipei’s claim that two Chinese military aircraft had breached Taiwan’s airspace four times, saying it was a “routine flight”.}}
“There was no occurrence of any abnormality,” China’s Defence Ministry said in a faxed statement to the Reuters news agency late on Tuesday.
Taiwan said it scrambled its jets to intercept two planes, identified as Yun-8 transport aircraft, on Monday.
The Chinese aircraft left without incident, Xiong Ho-ji, major general of Taiwan’s Air Force Combatant Command, said on Tuesday.
“We followed them closely to make sure they left our ADIZ [Air Defence Identification Zone],” said Xiong, declining to say how many fighters were mobilised in the two missions.
The United Daily News, a Taiwanese newspaper, cited an unidentified military officer as saying that Chinese aircraft had detoured in the past so as not to enter Taiwan’s ADIZ.
By entering it this time, the Chinese air force could test Taiwan’s air surveillance capabilities and its reaction to intruders, the officer said.
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