Taiwan detects ‘recent high’ 103 Chinese warplanes near island

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Taiwan detects ‘recent high’ 103 Chinese warplanes near island

A Taiwanese pilot runs toward an F-16V fighter jet for an evening take off as part of a combat readiness mission at the airbase in Hualien, Taiwan, in August last year. | REUTERS

By Jesse Johnson
STAFF WRITER

Sep 18, 2023

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Monday that it had detected more than 100 Chinese warplanes and nine warships around the self-ruled island, describing the number as a “recent high” and urging Beijing to halt what it said were “destructive” actions.

The flights came just hours after China’s top diplomat held a “constructive” meeting with the U.S. national security adviser — talks that saw Beijing warn that Taiwan is “the first red line that must not be crossed” in the two rivals’ relationship.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that 103 aircraft were detected around the island, including 40 that crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial barrier that separates the island from China. A map accompanying the statement showed a number of the warplanes had entered its southwest and southeast air defense identification zone (ADIZ), to the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines.

The ministry said in its statement that the flights “posed severe challenges to the security across the Taiwan Strait and in the region.” China has sought to regularize flights across the median line and around Taiwan as it heaps military pressure on the island, stoking fears of an accident erupting into a full-fledged conflict.

China’s “continued military harassment can easily lead to a sharp spike in tension and worsen regional security,” the ministry added, calling on Beijing to “immediately stop such destructive unilateral actions.”

Taipei reported an uptick in the number of flights into its ADIZ and around the island last week, following a transit of the Taiwan Strait by U.S. and Canadian naval vessels. A number of the planes were believed to be participating in “joint air and sea training” with China’s Shandong aircraft carrier in the western Pacific, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said.

Taiwan’s military said in its latest national defense report released last Tuesday that China’s People’s Liberation Army has been stepping up the number of multiservice landing drills, reconnaissance operations and incursions into the island’s ADIZ.

These exercises included April drills intended to practice blockading the island, following a meeting in the U.S. between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Despite the growing Sino-U.S. rivalry, especially over Taiwan, both sides have looked to tamp down the possibility of a clash.

In an attempt to ameliorate these concerns, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held two days of secret talks in Malta through Sunday.