Only days after buzzing an American spy-jet, Chinese fighter jets twice entered airspace claimed by Taiwan on Aug. 26.

Taiwan Defense Minister Yen Ming spoke to Bloomberg News about the incidents, saying both ended peacefully when the island's air force requested the Chinese leave. 

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It is just one of a mounting number of moves on the part of Beijing to assert China's dominance in the region. The country considers Taiwan a renegade province ever since forces loyal to the toppled government of Chiang Kai-chek fled the mainland before the rising communist government of Mao Zedong in 1947. Both entities claimed the title of "China" and have operated as states independent of the other, but after an initial wave of political popularity, only 22 of the world's 196 countries officially recognize Taiwan as a sovereign body.

China has in recent months pushed its sphere of influence towards its neighbors, often belligerently. In separate incidents, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, along with Taiwan went on alert after what they claim are Chinese excursions on their territory in the South China Sea. China and Japan are in a deeply entangled crisis over a set of islands, also claimed my Taiwan, in the East China Sea that may hold petroleum deposits. Because of Chinese criticism over its nuclear policies, North Korea recently beefed up troop presence along its borders.

In a case of politics making strange bedfellows, Chinese aggression on Vietnam's maritime territory have led to the warmest relations between Hanoi and the Washington in recent years. 

Because of various treaties with countries in the region, the United States may come to be directly involved in a conflict with China. The two world powers are currently meeting in Washington, DC, over the matter of conduct in international waters and airspace. 

China currently has 1000 missiles pointed at Taiwanese targets.

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