Taipei [Taiwan]: Tension between Beijing and Taipei has escalated manifold after nearly 150 Chinese military aircraft breached the airspace of Taiwan over a period of four days. Over a four-day period beginning last Friday (October 1), Taiwan said that nearly 150 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military aircraft entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ), part of a pattern of what Taipei calls Beijing’s continued harassment of the nation, reported Taipei Times. Military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday, days after record numbers of incursions by Chinese aircraft into Taiwan. At a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng asked Chiu about current military tensions with China, reported Taipei Times. China has the ability to invade Taiwan and its military would have the capability of mounting a “full scale” invasion by 2025, Chiu said. “By 2025, China will bring the cost and attrition to its lowest. It has the capacity now, but it will not start a war easily, having to take many other things into consideration,” he told the committee which, with the legislature’s Finance Committee, is reviewing a special military purchase act of NTD 240 billion (USD 8.6 billion) for indigenous weapons, including missiles and warships, reported Taipei Times. The military had placed the Hsiung Sheng missile on public display that has increased lawmakers’ confidence in Taiwan’s defensive capabilities after learning that the Hsiung Feng IIE (Brave Wind) has a range of 600km, while the Hsiung Sheng cruise missile has a range of more than 1,000km. The purchase act is likely to include the purchase of more than 100 Hsiung Sheng missiles, which would greatly augment Taiwan’s ability to deter China, the source said, reported Taipei Times.
