Taiwan-China conflict: How many times has Beijing breached Taipei's airspace?

Taiwan has been witnessing a surge of incursions by Chinese military warplanes breaching Taipei's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for the past year. Taiwan witnessed provocations intensifying as tensions between the two Chinas (People's Republic of China and Republic of China) increased multiple folds in the recent past.

While speaking to Taipei Times in December last year, Taiwan's Minister of National Defence, Chiu Kuo-cheng, said that military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years. It should be mentioned here that tensions between Taipei and Beijing are not new.

Taiwan had split from China during the civil war that brought Mao Zedong's Communist Party to power and established the People's Republic of China in 1949. While the Communist Party took control of the Chinese mainland in 1949, the Kuomintang-ruled government of the erstwhile Republic of China set up its government in Taiwan (officially called the Republic of China). 

Although the regions have been governed separately for more than seven decades, the Communist Party continues to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. Beijing has, on several occasions, stepped up military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan, which it considers its own territory under the One China policy. 

List of Chinese incursions in Taiwan in the past 3 months:

Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft have breached Taiwan's ADIZ on at least eight occasions in the last three months. As tensions between the two Chinas escalate, here's a look at incursions by Beijing on Taipei in the last three months.

1. As of October 19, the Taiwan Defence Ministry confirmed that at least 600 Chinese sorties breached its Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).
2. On October 31st, Chinese warplanes flew into the island nation's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). According to Taiwan News, Beijing dispatched at least six People's Liberation Army (PLA) Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, one KJ-500, and a Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane that entered the ADIZ (MND). According to the data released by the ministry, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent about 200 military aircraft to an island near Taiwan in October for training. 
3. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on November 7, announced that 16 Chinese fighter jets entered the country's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), Deutsche Welle reported. The ministry claimed it gave radio alerts and used air defence systems to monitor the aircraft.
4. At least nine Chinese planes, including two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, entered Taipei on November 21. The planes flew to the south of the island, reported news agency Sputnik, citing Taiwan's Defence Ministry. The two bombers reportedly flew into the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines, before returning to China.
5. Beijing dispatched eight military planes into Taiwan's ADIZ, local media reported on November 27. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense identified the planes as four Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, two Xi'an H-6 bombers, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane, and one Shaanxi KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW & C) aircraft.
6. The Taiwanese government said that at least 27 Chinese aircraft entered its air defence buffer zone on November 28. A later report by the Associated Press also stated that Taipei deployed missile systems to monitor the warplanes. 
7. In another incursion into its sovereign territory by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), as many as seven military aircraft encroached on the self-ruled island's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on January 5. 
8. Thirteen Chinese military warplanes entered the Taiwan Air Defence Identification Zone on January 11. The 13 aircraft that entered Taiwan's ADIZ, included a sortie of two H-6 bombers and a Y-8 electronic warfare plane. 

(With inputs from agencies, Image: AP)