FPI / January 26, 2022
Geostrategy-Direct
Over the course of just two days, China sent 52 military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense zone.
On Jan. 23, 39 Chinese military aircraft flew close to the southern end of Taiwan, including 34 J-10 and J-16 fighter jets. Other aircraft included an H-6 bomber and Y-8 and Y-9 electronic warfare planes, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.
On Jan. 24, 13 Chinese aircraft flew near the southern Taiwan coast, including two H-6 bombers, 10 J-16 fighters and one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, the ministry said on its website.
China’s incursions occurred as much of the world was focused on growing concerns that Russia is poised to launch an invasion of Ukraine.
Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he is concerned China is set to invade Taiwan, perhaps after the conclusion of the Beijing Winter Olympics in mid-February.
“Weakness does indeed invite aggression,” McCaul told reporters on Jan. 21. “This national security threat is the worst I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
“My prediction is that you’re going to see Russia invading Ukraine in the next month,” McCaul said. “And I think after the Olympics … China’s gotten so provocative, so aggressive in the South China Sea that you will begin to see [the Chinese Communist Party] invade Taiwan.”
McCaul said the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan last year was only inviting more aggression from adversaries like Russia and China.
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