A total of 6 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) planes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND).
The MND said that 31 Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships had been detected in the vicinity of Taiwan on Wednesday, adding that it scrambled combat air patrols, sent radio warnings, and deployed defensive missile systems in response.
Information released by the MND showed that four Shenyang J-11 fighter jets and two Shenyang J-16 fighter jets belonging to the PLA crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.
The J-11s crossed the median line near northern Taiwan, while the J-16s crossed in the southwestern part of the island.
Meanwhile, a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane also flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), accompanied by a long-range high-altitude Harbin BZK-005 UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), a Tengden TB-001 UAV, and a Rainbow CH-4 unmanned combat aerial vehicle, according to the MND.
The plane and the drones were detected in the southwestern part of Taiwan’s ADIZ.
The MND did not release the flight paths of the other planes.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has posted information about Chinese planes entering Taiwan’s ADIZ since Sept. 17, 2020, amid increasingly frequent incursions by Chinese military aircraft.
China stepped up its military maneuvers in early August this year after the visit of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Aug. 2 and 3, holding live-fire drills in six locations around Taiwan.
Chinese warplanes, including the 6 on Wednesday, have regularly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait since Pelosi’s visit.
The median line was previously observed by both Taipei and Beijing as an unofficial border, and crossing it is generally viewed an attempt by China to be more militarily active in areas around Taiwan.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel