Taiwan detects 41 Chinese aircraft, seven vessels around its nation

Taiwan detected 41 Chinese aircraft and seven Chinese vessels around its territory till 6am on Friday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence stated.

The defence ministry stated that 32 aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s Eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). Following this, Taipei monitored the situation and responded accordingly.

“41 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 32 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern, southwestern and eastern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly.”

Earlier on Thursday, the Taiwanese MND detected eight PLA (People’s Liberation Army) aircraft and six PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) vessels around its territory.

The MND stated that three aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s Eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).

In a post on X, the MND stated, “8 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8). 3 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly.”

This latest incident adds to a series of similar provocations by China in recent months. China has increased its military activities around Taiwan, including regular air and naval incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ and military exercises near the island.

Notably, Taiwan has been governed independently since 1949. However, China considers Taiwan part of its territory and insists on eventual reunification, by force if necessary.

So far this month, Taiwan has tracked over 300 PLA aircraft and around 200 Chinese ships. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of grey zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan.