VIDEO China prepares night assault on Taiwan. The US is swarming the region with the dreaded F 35s

Taiwan reported a resumption of Chinese military activity near the island on Saturday, with 12 aircraft crossing the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a visit to China.

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VIDEO China prepares night assault on Taiwan. The US is swarming the region with the dreaded F 35s

The United States is Taiwan’s largest international supporter and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. Blinken said he stressed the “critical importance” of maintaining cross-strait peace and stability during his visit to China.

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Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense last reported on Saturday a Chinese combat training patrol in which warships and warplanes operate together in the skies and waters near Taiwan, Reuters writes.

Things seem to be rushing

Taiwan is on alert for China to hold military exercises after the inauguration of President-elect Lai Ching-te this month, the island’s top security official said on Wednesday, adding that China has already started using new unusual tactics.

China, which regards democratically-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, has a strong aversion to Lai, seeing him as a dangerous separatist. The Chinese government has rejected his repeated offers for talks, including one made last week.

Over the past four years, the Chinese military has massively stepped up its activities around Taiwan.

Night patrols

Responding to questions from lawmakers, Tsai said China had been observed three times so far this year conducting “joint combat training drills” at night, which she described as a new development.

“Additionally, in-flight refueling aircraft are used during joint combat readiness patrols” to extend the time the fighter jets can stay in the air, Tsai said.
Landing ships and minesweepers were also seen joining these patrols, he added.

“These are new models for this year.”

F-35s arrive in the region

During this time, the states in the area that could participate in a conflict, such as Japan, order the most efficient American F 35 aircraft.

The F-35 fighter jets are in demand in the Indo-Pacific region, where more countries are said to be realizing the growing importance of “air superiority”, an important lesson that emerged from the conflict in Ukraine.

Singapore is acquiring its fleet of state-of-the-art fighter jets as it prepares to phase out its current fleet of F-16s starting in the mid-2030s.

In 2020, the US State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency reportedly approved an estimated $2.75 billion sale of up to 12 F-35B short-takeoff, vertical-landing fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin to Singapore – the first four of which should be delivered by 2026.

If we go by an official Lockheed statement, by 2035, “more than 300 F-35s will call the Indo-Pacific region home.” This includes F-35s from the US, Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore.

Joint aviation exercises

The F-35 strengthens “allied partnerships in the Indo-Pacific”. In this regard, it is emphasized how the fighter jet participated in regional military exercises such as Exercise Vigilant Defense (in October 2023, American F-35s and F-16s trained with South Korean F-35s and aircraft of Royal Australian Air Force), Joint Training Over the East China Sea (in the fall of 2023, US Air Force F-35s trained with Japanese aircraft over the East China Sea), and Exercise Elang Ausindo (in September 2023, an exercise bilateral air combat brought together six Australian F-35As and six Indonesian F-16s to generate air operations tactics and techniques).