A Chinese civilian aircraft flying near Lienchiang County’s Dongyin Island (東引) earlier this month was likely meant as a provocation or a test of Taiwan’s combat readiness, military officials said on Tuesday.
Ministry of National Defense (MND) spokesman Shih Shun-wen (史順文) told a news conference that the military could not rule out that China tried to test whether Taiwan would respond to the flyby.
“Whether it was meant as a provocation or a test, the nation’s armed forces are always ready and have prepared contingencies for all kinds of scenarios,” he said.
Photo: CNA
The Feb. 5 flight was confirmed by the ministry a day later.
Residents on the island, near the coast of China’s Fujian Province, told Chinese-language media that they could hear and see the aircraft, spurring speculations that it entered Taiwan’s territorial airspace.
Local media reported that the low-flying plane evaded radar when entering Taiwan’s airspace, but the military denied that allegation.
Air force Chief of Staff Huang Chih-wei (黃志偉) on Tuesday said that the military identified the aircraft as a civilian Y-12 light twin-engine plane, adding that it came near Dongyin, but did not enter Taiwanese airspace.
Military units on the island took “appropriate measures to monitor the aircraft’s movements to safeguard national security,” he said, without elaborating, citing the sensitivity of the issue.
Unlike after Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the military did not reveal the Y-12s flight path.
A country’s territorial airspace extends 12 nautical miles (22.2km) from the coastline of its territory. Countries have the right to attack any hostile aircraft that enters its territorial airspace without seeking permission.
Dongyin, part of the Matsu archipelago, is less than 50km east of China’s coast and about 185km northwest of Keelung.
Defense expert Lin Ying-yu (林穎佑) said that by sending a civilian aircraft near Taiwan’s territorial airspace, Beijing was engaging in so-called gray-zone warfare, staying below the threshold of traditional warfare.
Such tactics make it difficult for the defending nation to decide whether to answer with military force or police action, prolonging the time it takes to respond, he said.
Lin called on the military to work closely with other government units to implement a unified strategy to respond to such threats.
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