Taiwan’s defense ministry announced that it had detected 27 Chinese military aircraft, including drones, and 7 naval vessels near Taiwan for 24 hours as of 6:00 am on the 3rd.
On the 3rd, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense announced this and explained that 13 of the detected aircraft crossed the midline, which serves as a buffer zone, or entered the southwest, southeast, and northeast zones of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
The aircraft detected in ADIZ included three Su-30 fighters, four Chengdu J-10s, two Shenyang J-16 fighters, one Harbin BZK-005 reconnaissance drone, one Shaanxi Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft, and Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare. (EW) one reconnaissance aircraft and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) reconnaissance aircraft. The fighters circled over the midline while three Y-8 aircraft passed the southwest corner of the ADIZ.
A BZK-005 reconnaissance drone entered the southwest side of the ADIZ from the southwest corner of the midline. Afterwards, it flew southwest, east, north, and northwest sectors of the ADIZ, then exited through the northeast side of the midline.
This is the second time Taiwan’s defense ministry has publicly admitted that Chinese military aircraft had encircled Taiwan in this way. On this day, Chinese military aircraft approached northeast Taiwan more closely than in the first case reported on the 28th of last month.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it was monitoring the situation and responded by launching patrol planes, dispatching naval vessels, and deploying land-based air defense missile systems.
China is carrying out a gray zone operation that damages Taiwan by means other than explicit armed attacks, such as regularly sending aircraft to Taiwan’s ADIZ.
China conducted a large-scale military exercise using aircraft carriers when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States last month and met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is third in power.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.