UPDATE 1-Taiwan scrambles air force again after Chinese exercises in South China Sea

(Adds U.S. comment)
By Ben Blanchard
TAIPEI, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Taiwan's air force scrambled for
a second straight day on Saturday after a dozen Chinese fighter
aircraft and bombers carried out drills close to
Taiwan-controlled islands in the disputed South China Sea, the
defence ministry in Taipei said.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as Chinese territory, has
carried out repeated air missions in the southwestern corner of
Taiwan's air defence identification zone in recent months,
mostly near the Pratas Islands.
After nine Chinese air force aircraft flew near the Pratas
Islands on Friday, the Taiwanese Defence Ministry said it
tracked 11 aircraft on Saturday - eight fighter jets, two
nuclear-capable H-6 bombers and an anti-submarine aircraft, also
near the islands. It said Chinese naval forces were also involved but gave no
details.
Taiwan's air force warned the Chinese aircraft to leave and
deployed missile systems to monitor the activity, the ministry
said.
China has not commented on the last two days of activities.
It previously said such manoeuvres were a response to
"collusion" between Taipei and Washington, Taiwan's main
international backer and weapons supplier, and to safeguard
Chinese sovereignty.
A spokesman for the U.S. State Department on Saturday
repeated a call for Beijing "to cease its military, diplomatic,
and economic pressure against Taiwan," adding that it should
"instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan's
democratically elected representatives."
The Pratas Islands sit in the top part of the South China
Sea and are also claimed by China.
Lying roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, they
are only lightly defended by Taiwan and are considered by some
security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their
distance - more than 400 km (250 miles) - from mainland Taiwan.
Chinese aircraft fly in the southwestern corner of Taiwan's
air defence zone on an almost daily basis, though the last such
large-scale activity was on Jan. 24 when 12 Chinese fighters
were involved.
Taiwan on Friday unveiled a reshuffle of senior security
officials, including the appointment of a new, U.S.-trained
defence minister, to help bolster military modernisation and
intelligence efforts in the face of what it sees as a rising
Chinese threat.