U.S. Military Planes Fly near Taiwan After China Threatens ‘Military Struggle’

Two United States military aircraft reportedly flew close to Taipei’s southern airspace on Monday, the Taipei Times said.

The newspaper, citing flight charts posted on Twitter, identified a U.S. RC-135W Rivet Joint and a Lockheed P-3 Orion in the airspace north of the South China Sea. Aircraft Spots, a military air movement tracker, posted the images.

The two planes flew at different intervals, with the RC-135W reconnaissance plane spotted first over the Bashi Channel, southwest of Taiwan, according to the flight charts. The Bashi Channel connects the South China Sea with the western Pacific Ocean and runs between Taiwan and the Philippines. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea despite an international court ruling in 2016 that its claims are entirely illegal.

China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, despite the fact that Taipei has never been governed by Beijing in its history.

The U.S. Air Force presence near Taiwan’s airspace on Monday comes as a direct response to China staging military drills near Taiwan over the weekend.

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