Chinese military aircraft yesterday flew over the East China Sea to the south of Japan’s Okinawa Island and circled the international airspace surrounding Taiwan before passing over the Bashi Channel to return to China, officials from the Ministry of National Defense said.
It was the second time in two weeks that Chinese military aircraft have flown around Taiwan and passed over the Miyako Strait between Japan’s Okinawa and Miyako islands.
Yesterday’s flight launched at about 9am from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force’s Eastern Theater Command bases and involved a dozen aircraft, the ministry said in a statement, adding that only four aircraft traveled the entire flight path around Taiwan.
Photo: (Shao Jing/Xinhua via AP)
Ministry officials did not provide any details on the type of aircraft that participated in the flight.
Two Xian H-6K bombers, a Tupolev Tu-154 surveillance aircraft and a Shaanxi Y-8 tactical transport aircraft participated in the previous flight on Nov. 25.
The aircraft taking part in yesterday’s flight were reportedly escorted by several Su-30 fighter jets coming in from the north as they crossed the Miyako Strait as per the PLA Air Force’s procedure for flying past the first island chain, before the main group turned south into international airspace.
They were similarly escorted after reaching airspace south of Taiwan as they flew over the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, before ending the mission and returning to their bases at 1:10pm, according to military sources.
The ministry said that the aircraft flew clockwise around Taiwan, whereas they flew counter-clockwise on Nov. 25.
"Our military forces monitored the PLA aircraft and had them under surveillance the entire time. There is no need to be concerned about the situation,” the statement read.
“After the PLA aircraft headed from the Chinese coast toward the East China Sea, Taiwan’s military radar stations locked onto them and tracked the entire flight,” said a senior military officer who declined to be named.
“The air force dispatched a reconnaissance patrol aircraft for surveillance and it took photographs of the Chinese aircraft and transmitted the images to a command station,” he said.
The ministry released the statement immediately after the incident. Following the Nov. 25 flight, the ministry’s delayed response drew criticism from the public and lawmakers, and raised concern that it had sought to cover up the incident.
Media reports said that neither flight infringed upon Taiwan’s or Japan’s territorial airspace, but this could not be independently verified.
Senior Chinese military officials in September announced that they will conduct “regular exercises” for flying past the first island chain, as China seeks to assert its presence in disputed islands and marine territories in the South and East China seas.
Taiwan has virtually identical claims in the South China Sea.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS