Deputy defense minister Cheng Der-mei says that Taiwan will not back down if its airspace is violated. Cheng was speaking at the legislature on Tuesday. Lawmakers were questioning him about Turkey’s downing of a Russian military aircraft earlier in the week.
Cheng said that Taiwan’s military will avoid escalation and try to defuse hostility if it detects unknown aircraft in Taiwan’s airspace.
“We will uphold our principle of 'no fear, no avoidance, and no backing down' and strictly follow combat readiness procedure to intercept, monitor and expel," said Cheng. "This is the same as our current everyday procedure.”
Cheng responded to questions about the possibility of Russian-made Chinese fighter jets passing the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, saying that the military has a standard operating procedure for such cases. Cheng said the defense ministry employs a comprehensive monitoring system to ensure safety in Taiwan’s air and sea space.