Taipei - Taiwan scrambled combat aircrafts on Tuesday to warn away 29 Chinese aircraft in its Taiwan's self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ), adding fuel to already risen tensions. The incident is the largest incursion since late May.

The Defense Ministry said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force planes included 17 fighters and six H-6 bombers, as well as electronic warfare, early warning, antisubmarine and aerial refuelling aircraft.

Taiwan, which China's ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims as its own territory, has complained in recent years of repeated missions by the Chinese air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

An ADIZ is unilaterally imposed and distinct from sovereign airspace, which is defined under international law as extending 12 nautical miles from a territory's shoreline.

Taiwan calls China's repeated nearby military activities "grey zone" warfare, designed to both wear out Taiwanese forces by making them repeatedly scramble, and also to test Taiwanese responses.
-Reuters