TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) should revise regulations and provide more resources to the military so it can better respond to foreign aircraft near Taiwan’s borders, experts said Tuesday (Feb. 15).
A Chinese Y-12 civilian transport plane flew near the east coast of Dongyin Island on Feb. 5 but did not enter Taiwanese airspace. Following the incident, the MND said it has not ruled out the possibility that China is using civilian aircraft to test how Taiwan’s military responds.
Chie Chung (揭仲), an associate researcher at the National Policy Foundation, said in an interview that China must have deliberately planned the use of a civil aircraft because the unusually low altitude flight path means the plane in question was purposefully avoiding radar detection, CNA reported.
Chung said he believes the incident was no different than the air defense identification zone incursions carried out by China southwest of Taiwan and that it was part of Beijing’s gray zone tactics. He suggested the MND revise its response procedures and make relevant regulations more detailed, adding that episodes involving civilian planes cannot be addressed the same way as military aircraft.
Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said in the same interview that he believes the flyby was unrelated to China’s gray zone strategy, but he stressed that nothing can be ruled out. It could be that the plane was lost, the pilot made a mistake, or the flight had a military purpose, CNA cited him as saying.
Su said the focus should now be on how to help troops stationed on Dongyin Island better deal with such incidents. He said low-altitude surveillance radars could be deployed on the island.
Because the long-range radars stationed there pick up a lot of background noise, it is easy to miss or disregard aircraft flying at low altitudes, he said.
The analyst also recommended the military modify regulations based on International Civil Aviation Organization rules and purchase lasers or bright lights as a non-lethal way to dissuade civilian aircraft from entering Taiwan’s airspace.
