• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

19 Chinese planes cross Taiwan Strait median line

ROC Central News Agency

09/08/2022 09:41 PM

Graphic: Ministry of National Defense

Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) A total of 45 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval ships were detected in areas around Taiwan on Thursday, of which 18 warplanes and a drone crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND).

MND data showed 12 Sukhoi SU-30, two Chengdu J-10 and four Shenyang J-16 fighter jets flew across the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

The 12 SU-30s crossed the median line from the north of Taiwan, while the J-10s and J-16s did so in the southwestern part of the nation.

Alongside the 18 warplanes, a Tengden TB-001 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) also made a solo flight further north of the median line, bringing the total number of military aircraft to cross the line to 19.

Meanwhile, six military planes also flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

The planes that entered Taiwan's ADIZ consisted of four Xi'an JH-7 fighter bombers, one Shenyang J-11 fighter jet and one Shaanxi Y-9 communications anti-jamming aircraft.

The MND did not release the flight paths of the other planes.

The ministry said it scrambled combat air and naval patrols and deployed defense missile systems to track the Chinese military aircraft.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry has been posting information about Chinese planes entering Taiwan's ADIZ since Sept. 17, 2020, amid the growing frequency of incursions by Chinese military aircraft.

China stepped up military maneuvers in early August this year after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on Aug. 2-3, holding live-fire drills in six locations around the country.

Dozens of Chinese warplanes, including the 14 on Thursday, have crossed the median line, the unofficial border between Taiwan and China, since Pelosi's visit, which is generally considered far more provocative than incursions into the ADIZ.

(By Novia Huang and James Lo)

Enditem/AW