TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 91 Chinese military aircraft and 12 naval vessels around the country, including 54 warplanes that intruded on Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) or the median line on Monday (April 10).
The 91 People's Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes deployed around Taiwan's ADIZ appear to be a new single-day record. The previous highest one-day tally was 71 Chinese military aircraft recorded on Dec. 26, 2022.
Fifty-four aircraft and 12 ships had crossed the central and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the southwest or southeast corners of Taiwan's ADIZ. Aircraft tracked in the ADIZ include the Sukhoi Su-30, Chengdu J-10, Shenyang J-11, Shenyang J-15, Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, Xian H-6 bombers, Xian Y-20 aerial refueling aircraft, Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, Shaanxi Y-9 electronic warfare plane, and Shaanxi KJ-200 and Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning aircraft.
Over the past three days, 232 PLA military aircraft have been detected around Taiwan. Although the Eastern Theater Command announced at 6 p.m. on Monday that the "Joint Sword" exercises had concluded, Taiwan's Armed Forces vowed to "continue to keep a close watch on the PLA's movements and act accordingly."
In response to the meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Eastern Theater Command on Saturday (April 8) announced three days of military exercises around Taiwan.
91 PLA aircraft and 12 vessels were detected by 18:00(UTC+8) on April 10th. 54 of the detected aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered our SW & SE ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and tasked our assets to respond. pic.twitter.com/iFjSCq9gJX
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕 (@MoNDefense) April 10, 2023
