Taiwan Scrambles Jets to Warn Away Chinese Air Force Incursion

Taiwan scrambled combat jets to warn away 39 Chinese aircraft that entered its southeastern air defense zone. (Reuters file photo)
Taiwan scrambled combat jets to warn away 39 Chinese aircraft that entered its southeastern air defense zone. (Reuters file photo)
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Taiwan Scrambles Jets to Warn Away Chinese Air Force Incursion

Taiwan scrambled combat jets to warn away 39 Chinese aircraft that entered its southeastern air defense zone. (Reuters file photo)
Taiwan scrambled combat jets to warn away 39 Chinese aircraft that entered its southeastern air defense zone. (Reuters file photo)

Taiwan scrambled combat jets to warn away 39 Chinese aircraft that entered its southeastern air defense zone, the island's defense ministry said on Thursday.

Taiwan has complained of repeated missions by the Chinese air force over the last two years, often in southern areas of its air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.

Thursday's incursion included 21 fighters and four H-6 bombers, as well as early warning, antisubmarine and aerial refueling aircraft, Taiwan's defense ministry said in a report detailing Chinese activities in its ADIZ over the last 24 hours.

Many of the aircraft flew over a waterway known as the Bashi Channel to an area off the island's southeastern coast, according to a map provided by the ministry. Three Chinese navy ships were also detected near Taiwan, the ministry said.

Taiwan sent unspecified combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese planes, while missile systems monitored their flight, the ministry said, using standard wording for its response.

Separate Taiwan government notices have said the defense ministry's research and development arm, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, is holding a missile firing drill this week on the island's southeastern coast.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own, has stepped up pressure in recent years on the self-governed island to accept Beijing's rule. Taiwan's government rejects the Chinese claims and says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked.



Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Netanyahu Says ‘We Can Finish the Job’ against Iran after Meeting Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands during a press conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its "aggression" in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaking after meeting Rubio in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said they had held a "very productive discussion" on a number of issues, "none more important than Iran".

"Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran," he said. "We agreed that the mullahs must not have nuclear weapons and also agreed that Iran's aggression in the region must be rolled back."

Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home is Iran."

Israeli-Iranian enmity stretches back decades through a history of clandestine wars and attacks by land, sea, air and cyberspace.

Iran, which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, has also backed armed groups across the Middle East that describe themselves as the "Axis of Resistance" to Israel and US influence in the region.

The Axis includes not only Hamas, the Palestinian group that ignited the Gaza war by attacking Israel in October 2023, but also the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, the Houthi militias in Yemen, various Shiite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

Over the 16 months since the Gaza war erupted, Israel has assassinated top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah and Israel and Iran have exchanged limited retaliatory attacks.

Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a "mighty blow" to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and said that with the support of US President Donald Trump "I have no doubt we can and will finish the job".

Thanking Rubio for "unequivocal backing" for Israel's policy in Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel and the United States under Trump shared a common strategy in the Palestinian enclave, where a fragile ceasefire is in effect.

"I want to assure everyone who's now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us," he said.