(RepublicanDaily.org) – As conflict rages between Russia and Ukraine, the eyes of political leaders and media outlets remain laser-focused on the situation there. However, worrying foreign policy issues still persist elsewhere in the world, notably in the region of the South China Sea.
On Thursday, March 10, Taiwan’s intelligence service confirmed the Chinese military is on the hunt for a patrol plane that crashed in the South China Sea. This confirmation follows days of speculation by intelligence agencies and media outlets across the world. An anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft reportedly fell into the sea on March 1, and China subsequently announced it was conducting unscheduled military exercises in the region. Experts speculated these “exercises” were actually a search-and-rescue operation seeking to locate and recover the downed aircraft.
The Chinese air force's fleet of Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft has not been detected in flight operations near Taiwan since March 1. https://t.co/kXDGDvwR36
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 10, 2022
China has not acknowledged it’s conducting search-and-rescue operations in the area, but there’s evidence that this is the case. Onlookers have noticed Chinese ships moving slowly around small areas, suggesting they’re searching for something. Additionally, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has grounded all other planes belonging to the same category of aircraft as the one lost. This is part of the normal aviation safety procedure after a plane has an accident.
The sovereign island has been recording incursions into its airspace by Chinese military planes almost every day as tensions between Taiwan and China continue.
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