Apex Aviation yesterday confirmed reports that Chinese military aircraft flew close to one of its medevac plane near Kinmen County in June.
Confirming the first news report of the incident, which was published by the local RW News on Tuesday, Apex said that the issue occurred on the morning of June 26, when one of its medevac aircraft was flying from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to its base in Kinmen, carrying no patients.
Photo: Lin Chia-chi, Taipei Times
"As the flight neared Kinmen, the pilots heard the Kaohsiung Approach on the public frequency warning off a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and ordering it to leave the civilian airway," Apex said, referring to Kaohsiung International Airport's aviation approach procedure.
"The Approach additionally informed our pilots that a fighter jet was flying alongside our plane," the medevac company said.
Apex said it was "difficult to gauge" the distance between its aircraft and the Chinese fighter jet, which was visible to its pilots for about five minutes.
It is unclear how long the fighter jet remained close to the medevac plane, as Apex could not determine precisely when it first approached or departed, the company said.
Apex said its pilots followed air traffic control instructions and encountered "no impediments" during the remainder of the flight to Kinmen Airport.
The plane was not carrying any patients at the time, it said.
On the question of why it did not report the incident at the time, APEX said it believed the encounter was coincidental, as it was aware of the news reports that the PLA was conducting "joint combat readiness patrols" that same day.
The RW News report on Tuesday said that two PLA aircraft — a JH-7 and a J-10 — had closed in on an Apex medical evacuation plane in airspace near Kinmen "several months ago."
Later in the day, the Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement saying it strongly condemned Beijing's actions and called for a cessation of "such irrational actions," which it said undermine "humanitarian relief and jeopardize flight safety."
"China's military threat against Taiwan is growing by the day, amid frequent military intimidation and 'gray zone' incursions in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Strait," the council said at the time.
"It has even targeted our medevac aircraft," the council said, adding that such actions show "a disregard for human life."
Yesterday, council Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing that the incident was the first of its kind, and the council hoped it would not be repeated.
The Kinmen medevac service is a special one designed to address the area's limited medical resources and meet the needs of the county's residents, he said.
However, Liang did not respond to questions about why the incident was not reported at the time, or what measure were being taken to prevent a recurrence.
Given the discrepancy between Apex's and RW News reports on the number of PLA aircaraft, reporters sought clarification from the air force yesterday, but did not obtain a clear answer.
"In the face of PLA incursions, the air force employs a joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system to maintain full awareness of movements in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Strait," the air force said.
Asked why Taiwanese authorities regarded the incident as a "gray zone" incursion rather than a chance encounter with PLA aircraft, the air force did not respond directly.
On Wednesday, Chen Binhua (陳斌華), spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, commented on the council's response the previous day, saying that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities are "accustomed to making an issue of so-called 'gray zone harassment.'"
The party "deliberately hypes up a 'mainland threat' and incites 'anti-China' sentiment" to distract from Taiwanese residents' dissatisfaction with its incompetent governance," Chen said.
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