TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 37 aircraft detected in Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) were reported as the Shandong carrier strike group continues to conduct joint maneuvers with Chinese warplanes near Taiwan.

On Oct. 26, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said China's Shandong aircraft carrier battle group passed through waters south of Taiwan, transited through the Bashi Channel, and entered the Western Pacific that day. The strike group consisted of seven surface ships, including the Shandong, five frigates, one supply ship, and one suspected submarine, reported TVBS.

At noon on Tuesday (Oct. 31), the MND reported that 23 Chinese military aircraft detected in the ADIZ were conducting joint combat readiness patrols with the Shandong aircraft carrier fleet. The ministry stated that the carrier group was outside the southeast ADIZ.

The MND on Wednesday announced that it had tracked 43 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around the country between 6 a.m. Tuesday (Oct. 31) and 6 a.m. Wednesday (Nov. 1). Of the aircraft, 37 had crossed the median line or entered the southeast and southwest sectors of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

The aircraft tracked in the ADIZ included: six Sukhoi Su-30,16 Shenyang J-16, and four Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, four Xi'an H-6 bombers, two Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft (KJ-500 AEW&C), one Shaanxi Y-9 communication countermeasure (Y-9 CC) aircraft, one Shaanxi Y-8 electronic intelligence (Y-8 ELINT) spotter plane, one Guizhou WZ-7 Soaring Dragon reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle (WZ-7 UAV RECCE), and two Xi'an Y-20 aerial refueling aircraft.

With the exception of some J-10 fighter jets that crossed over the mid-section of the median line, the rest of the PLAAF aircraft flew in the southwest and southeast sectors of the ADIZ. The Y-9 CC aircraft, Y-9 ELINT plane, WZ-7 RECCE drone, Y-20 tanker, J-16 fighter jets, H-6 bombers, and one of the KJ-500 AEW&C drones flew into the waters outside the southeast ADIZ, where the Shandong carrier group is reportedly conducting maneuvers.

The MND said it monitored the situation with its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance system and, in response, scrambled combat patrol aircraft, dispatched naval vessels, and deployed land-based air defense missile systems.