Taiwan warns of China war

BEIJING: China has dispatched a record number of fighter jets and bombers to Taiwan, as several days of military harassment brought alarming warnings of war from Taipei.

The latest flights included 34 J-16 fighter jets and 12 H-6 bombers, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence, and were viewed as a show of strength by Beijing before Western military drills in the South China Sea this week.

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu warned of a possible war with the mainland.

“The defence of Taiwan is in our own hands and we are absolutely committed to that,” he told the ABC’s China Tonight program in Australia.

“If China is going to launch a war against Taiwan, we will fight to the end and that is our commitment.

“I’m sure that if China is going to launch an attack against Taiwan, I think they are going to suffer tremendously as well.

“We are pleased to see that the like-minded partners of Taiwan – the US, UK and Australia – are working closer with each other … so we can defend the Indo-Pacific.”

Washington has a pact with Taipei to supply sufficient hardware and technology to deter any mainland invasion.

The State Department said China’s provocative actions were “destabilising, risked miscalculations and undermined regional peace and stability”.