Fifty-seven Chinese aircraft and four warships were detected near Taiwan from 6 a.m. Sunday to 6 a.m. Monday, and were part of the joint combat training exercises conducted by China, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND).
In a statement issued on Monday, the MND said 28 of the aircraft either crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or breached the southwestern perimeter of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
The planes included three BZK-005 unmanned aerial vehicles, six J-11 fighter jets, 12 J-16 fighter jets and two Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft.
Taiwan responded to the sortie by deploying ships, aircraft, and land-based missile systems, as well as issuing radio alerts, the MND said.
It was the second round of military exercises conducted by the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) near Taiwan in the past two weeks since United States President Joe Biden signed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act into law on Dec. 23, authorizing US$10 billion in loans to Taiwan to buy weapons from the U.S. over the next five years.
In the first round of exercises launched on Dec. 25, the PLA sent a total of 71 planes and seven warships to areas near Taiwan over 24 hours, with 47 aircraft either crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entering Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ, according to the MND.
The Eastern Theater Command said on late Sunday that the latest joint naval-air drills were aimed at testing the PLA’s combat capability in the face of a series of provocations from external and Taiwan independence forces.
In response, Taiwan’s Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (???) on Monday accused the PLA of making groundless accusations, stressing Taiwan’s resolve to safeguard its sovereignty and national security and that it will not fuel tensions or trigger conflict in the region.
Chang said it is the responsibility of both sides of the strait to protect regional peace and stability, which is also a shared expectation of the international community.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel