China flies drone around Taiwan

A Chinese uncrewed combat aircraft has flown around Taiwan, the island's defence ministry said, showcasing Beijing's ability to attack its fall-back east coast bases, as a US maritime patrol aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has increased military pressure on the island over the past three years as it tries to force Taipei to accept its sovereignty claim. Taiwan's defence ministry, in an early yesterday update of Chinese military activities over the previous 24 hours, said 19 military aircraft had entered the island's air defence identification zone. One of those was a TB-001 drone, which flew around Taiwan, first crossing the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines, then up the east of Taiwan before crossing back toward the Chinese coast, according to a map provided by the ministry. Meanwhile, a US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft flew through the Taiwan Strait yesterday, and a senior French lawmaker confirmed a warship from his country recently transited the waterway. The US and its allies have routinely sent warships and aircraft through the Taiwan Strait in recent years.