Tensions flare as Chinese flights near Taiwan intensify
Fox News
With record numbers of military flights near Taiwan in the last week, China has been showing a new intensity and military sophistication as it steps up its harassment of the island it claims as its own.
The sorties came as China, with growing diplomatic and military power, faces greater pushback from countries in the region and an increasing naval presence from the United States and other Western democracies in Asia as Taiwan pleads for more global support and recognition.
The U.S. called China’s latest actions "risky" and "destabilizing," while China responded that the U.S. selling weapons to Taiwan and its ships navigating the Taiwan Strait were provocative.
At the same time as the flights, the U.S. stepped up naval maneuvers in the Indo-Pacific with its allies, challenging Beijing’s territorial claims in critical waterways.