The Chinese Communist Party proved again why the free world ought to be wary of its growing power as China launched its largest recorded incursion of Taiwan's air defense identification zone—or ADIZ—on Tuesday.
According to Taiwan's Ministry of Defense, twenty-eight aircraft were involved in the incursion, including fighter jets and bombers capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Taiwan scrambled its own jets to warn off the Chinese planes and activated its air defense missile systems to monitor the incursion.
28 PLA aircraft (Y-8 ASW, H-6*4, Y-8 EW, KJ-500 AEW&C*2, J-16*14 and J-11*6) entered #Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ on June. 15, 2021. Please check our official website for more information: https://t.co/JnfN8bOwgl pic.twitter.com/MBJv2jbNMZ
— ??? Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. ???? (@MoNDefense) June 15, 2021
An intercepted radio transmission from Taiwan's air force to the Chinese jets warned "the consequences of any accident are yours alone."
This latest show of force from China, the likes of which Taiwan's Ministry of Defense has tracked and reported for the last year, follows a warning from G7 member countries that covered China's aggression and expansion in the South China Sea, origins of the Wuhan coronavirus, human rights abuses perpetrated against religious minorities, and trampling of freedom in Hong Kong.
On the topic of China's actions around Taiwan, G7 nations said they "remain seriously concerned about the situation in and around the East and South China Seas."
"We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. We reiterate our strong opposition to any unilateral actions that could escalate tensions and undermine regional stability and the international rules-based order and express serious concerns about reports of militarisation, coercion, and intimidation in the region."
G7 nations also expressed their support for "an expert-driven, transparent, and independent process for the next phase of the WHO-convened COVID-19 origins study" in the statement.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows pointed out the about-face in Biden's position, as well as the flaws with G7's reliance on the World Health Organization to conduct another review of the Wuhan coronavirus' origins.
A remarkable sequence from Joe Biden this week on investigating COVID-19 origins. He cancels an independent probe last week… and now this week announces he wants a G7 investigation led by the WHO, who blatantly covered for China’s lies and cost millions of lives. Outrageous.
— Mark Meadows (@MarkMeadows) June 14, 2021
As Katie reported, the Biden administration's attempt to look like it's doing something on COVID-19's origins "all but ensures we'll never truly know how the pandemic initially started."
Given President Biden's track record on "accountability" with Russia so far leading to a green light for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, China's actions over Taiwan are another indication of how hostile nations perceive Biden's strength—or lack thereof.
Beijing responded to the G7 statement saying "China's internal affairs must not be interfered in, China's reputation must not be slandered, and China's interests must not be violated" after warning that "the days when 'small' groups of countries decided the fate of the world were long gone," according to Reuters.