Taiwan scrambled fighter jets on Friday after a fleet of Chinese military aircraft buzzed the island, stepping up tensions as a senior US official began holding meetings in Taipei. Beijing had earlier announced the start of combat drills in the Taiwan strait aimed at asserting its claim that the island remained “an inalienable part of China”. The Chinese government has long considered Taiwan a renegade province, although the democratically-governed island has its own president, currency, foreign policy, passport and military. China has engaged in a bitter war of words and staged multiple drills around Taiwan over recent months to protest growing engagement between the self-ruled island and the US government. Stronger ties between Taiwan and the US have further weakened Washington’s diplomatic relations with Beijing, which are already at historic lows as the two nations spar over trade, technology, human rights, coronavirus and espionage.
