Social media abuzz with claims of Taiwan shooting down Chinese Su-35 jet, Taipei calls it 'fake news'
Taiwanese social media is abuzz with claims that a China’s Sukhoi Su-35 fighter plane was shot down by the country’s air defence system.
Sukhoi Su-35 | Credit: TASS
Key Highlights
- Taiwanese Twitter users reported that a Chinese Sukhoi Su-35 fighter plane was shot down by Taiwan
- Some users saying plane crashed due to technical glitch
- Video of the crashed fighter jet going viral on social media
New Delhi: Taiwanese social media is abuzz with claims that a China’s Sukhoi Su-35 fighter plane was shot down by the country’s air defence system.
According to a report by The Jewish Press the plane crashed in Guangxi, an autonomous coastal region in southern China, bordering Vietnam, after intruding into the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
Multiple videos circulating on social media show a jet engulfed in thick smoke. The video is from an unknown location.
However, many users have flagged the report calling it false while some said that the fighter jet crashed due to technical glitch.
Nicola Smith, Asia correspondent at The Daily Telegraph rejected the report saying Taiwan's ministry of defence has responded categorically that this is fake news.
Russia completed deliveries of Su-35 to China in 2019
In 2019, Russia completed the deliveries of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets to China under a contract signed in November 2015.
The contract worth $2 billion made China the first foreign buyer of the aircraft. The Su-35S supersonic fighter jet made its first flight on February 19, 2008, and is a derivative of the Su-27 plane.
Last month, Chinese state media threatened to conduct a "military mission" till September 4 in the north of the Taiwan Strait following which Taipei warned Beijing against any attempt to annex the democratic island nation.
Global Times said that China's Maritime Safety Administration had announced that it was going to conduct a "military mission from Friday to September 4 in the Bohai Strait and the northern Yellow Sea".
China wants to annex Taiwan
Taipei Times recently reported that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) does not possess the military capability to wage an all-out war against Taiwan due to demanding geological environment of the Taiwan Strait.
A report titled ‘The China Military Power Report 2020’ by the Ministry of National Defense said that the PLA lacks the landing vehicles and logistics required for launching an incursion into Taiwan via the Taiwan Strait.
“If Beijing were to wage a war now, its combat plans could take the form of military intimidation, blockades, firepower strikes and landing operations,” the report said.