Taiwan detects 11 Chinese military aircraft, six naval vessels around nation

TAIPEI CITY: Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) detected 11 Chinese military aircraft and six naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am (local time) on Thursday and 6 am (local time) on Friday, Taiwan News reported.

According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence, of the 11 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, one crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the southwest corner of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Another People's Liberation Army (PLA) plane entered the southwest sector of the ADIZ.

Following China's action, Taiwan in response sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed air defense missile systems to keep an eye on PLA activity. So far in February, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 185 times and naval ships 108 times, according to Taiwan News.

In a post on X, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence stated, "11 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 am today. 2 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's SW ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and employed appropriate forces to respond."

Since September 2020, China has intensified its use of grey zone tactics by increasng the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said that a planned Chinese rocket launch on Friday will not pass through Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), Taiwan News reported.

According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence press release, the launch is expected to be conducted at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the island of Hainan in China's far south. Previously, the launch site was used to launch Long March rockets carrying out satellites and other payloads, according to Taiwan News report.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence decision comes after a bungled alert warning of a Chinese rocket launch just before the general elections in January, Taiwan News reported. The announcement was sent to every cellphone in Taiwan and called the a satellite launch as a "missile flyover (in Taiwan's) airspace" in English.