China on Tuesday sent fighter jets across the midline of the Taiwan Strait at the very time the United States of America’s health chief, Alex Azar, visited Taiwan to offer President Donald Trump’s support.
China had earlier condemned Azar’s visit to Taiwan after a period of deteriorating relations between it and the US.
The Asian giants threatened unspecified retaliation if the US health chief make to the trip.
And the country flew J-11 and J-10 fighter aircraft briefly onto Taiwan’s side of the sensitive and narrow strait at around 1am GMT, shortly before Azar met Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, UK Express reports.
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However, the fighter jets were tracked by Taiwanese land-based anti-aircraft missiles and “driven out” by patrolling Taiwanese aircraft.
Recall that China had warned the US that from Monday (yesterday) it would apply sanction 11 US citizens including officials in response to America’s move to impose sanctions on 11 Hong Kong and Chinese officials.
US accused the Hong Kong and Chinese officials of curtailing political freedoms in the city.
Reacting to the development, a senior Taiwan security official said China was obviously “targeting” Mr Azar’s visit with a “very risky.”
AFP