China’s deployment of a record number of military aircraft into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on two consecutive days was a display of its joint combat capabilities, defense experts said yesterday.
A total of 38 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including 24 J-16 fighter jets, entered Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ on Friday, the day China marked its National Day. This set a record for the largest intrusion since September last year, when Taiwan began reporting such actions.
On Saturday, the PLA sent a fleet of 39 aircraft into Taiwan’s ADIZ, breaking the previous day’s record.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The Ministry of National Defense said that 14 J-16 and four SU-30 fighters, along with two Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, entered the southwestern section of Taiwan’s ADIZ during the day on Saturday. At night, 12 J-16, six SU-30 fighters, and one KJ-500 airborne early warning airplane crossed into the ADIZ.
The air force responded by scrambling planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets, the ministry said.
The Chinese aircraft on both missions flew close to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙島), the ministry said.
The airspace around the Pratas Islands is part of Taiwan’s ADIZ, an area declared by a country to allow it to identify, locate and control approaching foreign aircraft. However, such zones are not considered territorial airspace.
Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) condemned China for its actions on Saturday, saying that the country was engaging in military aggression and “damaging regional peace.”
China has not commented, although it has previously said that such flights were to protect its sovereignty and aimed against “collusion” between Taiwan and the US, Taiwan’s most important international supporter.
In a statement released yesterday, the US Department of State said the US "is very concerned by the People’s Republic of China’s provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risks miscalculations, and undermines regional peace and stability."
"We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against Taiwan," it added.
"We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability, and we will maintain our commitments as outlined in the Three Communiqués, the Taiwan Relations Act, and the Six Assurances," it said. "The US commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region."
Chieh Chung (揭仲), a research fellow at the Taiwan think tank Association of Strategic Foresight, said that the day and night incursions are meant to show that the PLA is capable of military deployment around the clock.
Chieh also said that the aircraft came from different squadrons to demonstrate to Taiwan and the US the PLA’s joint combat capabilities and its ability to quickly assemble assets from different units.
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