On Thursday, the Defense Ministry reported that a total of 43 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) assets were operating in the areas around Taiwan during a joint combat readiness drill. The ministry’s surveillance period began at 6 a.m. Wednesday and ended this morning at 6 a.m.
Of the 34 Chinese military aircraft observed, 27 aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the ministry. Eight Chinese naval vessels and an official ship were monitored as well.
The ministry said the aircraft detected included J-16 fighter jets, KJ-500 early warning planes, a helicopter, along with other various support aircraft and drones. A diagram released by the ministry showed the separate locations and periods of activity with the highest number of aircraft activity detected from between 6 a.m. and 7:20 p.m. Of the 21 aircraft monitored, 16 breached the median line.
The ministry says it is closely observing the situation and that air and naval patrols were deployed with land-based missile systems to respond to the activities.