The first-ever incursion of Chinese military helicopters into Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ) this week suggests that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could be rotating through its arsenal of aircraft to probe the capabilities of the Taiwanese defense system and how it responds, experts said on Friday.
The Ministry of National Defense said that two Z-8 helicopters — the Chinese version of the French Aerospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon — and one Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane flew into the southwest ADIZ on Friday morning.
The ministry on Thursday said that a Harbin Z-9 “Haitun” helicopter and a Y-8 transport plane also flew into the ADIZ south of the Taiwan Strait, adding that it was the first recorded incident of Chinese helicopters since the ministry began reporting Chinese aerial incursions in September last year.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), a former instructor at the China Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, said that the Z-8 and Z-9 helicopters vary in their features, but have similar their radar cross-sections.
These are the two main types of helicopters that Taiwan’s military would most likely come across, Lu said.
By deploying one of the helicopter versions and observing how Taiwan reacts, Beijing can gather intelligence on Taiwan’s response procedures and how well the military knows Chinese helicopter types, he said.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research analyst Shu Hsiao-huang (舒孝煌) said the Z-8 is one of the mid-sized to large helicopters fielded by the PLA and has anti-submarine, airborne early warning and troop transport capabilities.
Any form of surprise landing in Taiwan would likely employ a Z-8, Shu said, adding that these helicopters can take off from large ships or newly created airfields along China’s southeastern coast.
Lu said that China could deploy more helicopter types to test Taiwan’s responses and to fatigue military pilots, adding that Beijing could also begin sending drones.
The military should deliver a complete countermeasure against Chinese harassment, Lu said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS