Following the November increase in the number of PLA flights that disturbed Taiwan, on the first day of December, PLA aircraft appeared again and flew into southwest Taiwan airspace. The Taiwan Air Force dispatched air patrols to respond, anti-aircraft missiles to track and monitor the aircraft, and broadcast the dispersal.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated on its website, in the “Current Military Developments” section, that on Tuesday morning (December 1), a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft entered the airspace southwest of Taiwan.
Due to the frequent flight disturbances by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aircraft, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) has set up a “Real-Time Military News” section on its official website since September 17, announcing information about the PLA’s flight disturbances and the MND’s response.
Over the past two and a half months, PLA military aircraft have continued to enter Taiwan’s southwestern airspace, repeatedly flying into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) and even leaping over the sensitive centerline of the strait, making disturbance flights a routine occurrence.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, the Chinese military conducted 22 days of disturbance flights to Taiwan in November, employing a total of more than 40 sorties, the largest of which was on November 2, when eight sorties of five different aircraft entered the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) southwest of Taiwan.
The Chinese Communist Party’s military aircraft also flew frequently in October, disturbing Taiwan for 20 days and flying 25 PLA sorties.
According to the data recorded by Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense after the establishment of “Instant Military Update”, on September 18, the PLA sent two Boom 6s, eight J-16s, four J-11s, and four J-10s, for a total of 18 sorties, 12 of which crossed the centerline of the strait. The next day, 12 J-16s, 2 J-10s, 2 J-11s, 2 Boom 6s, and 1 Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft entered the southwest and northwest airspace of Taiwan and crossed the centerline of the strait again.
Taiwan Defense Minister Yan De-Fa reported in the Legislative Yuan in October that from the beginning of this year to October 7, the PLA flew 1,710 military sorties and 1,029 naval ship sorties to invade Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), 49 of which crossed the centerline of the Taiwan Strait, the highest number since 1990. Taiwan flew 2,972 military sorties to intercept them, at a cost of about $850 million.
Because of the high frequency of PRC sorties, Taiwan’s Air Force had to respond immediately with an emergency airlift each time. Some experts believe that the CCP military planes are clearly fighting a war of attrition, using a high-density strategy of disturbing Taiwan in an attempt to collapse Taiwan’s military.
The Taiwan Air Force Command said that the military has certain norms for responding to communist disturbances in Taiwan, and that it has plenty of logistical energy and is absolutely capable of carrying out the task of defending sovereignty, so please rest assured.
Taiwan’s former Chief of Staff General Li Mingxi said in a recent interview that although the Chinese Communist Party’s deployment of military force is “consumed”, but the asymmetry of military resources across the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese Communist Party’s military aircraft will continue to disturb Taiwan, Taiwan has to think of smarter ways to prevent being consumed, otherwise buy more fighter jets are not enough.
In response to China’s increased harassment of Taiwan by force, the U.S. has also increased its arms sales to Taiwan, and this year the U.S. State Department has approved several arms sales to Taiwan.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Li Ying-jie (William Brent Christensen) said on November 28, this year’s U.S. planned arms sales to Taiwan totaled $ 11.8 billion, the highest annual defense purchases in a single year in Taiwan’s history. He said the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have bipartisan support.
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the proposed arms sale is consistent with U.S. law and policy and supports the recipient’s efforts to modernize its armed forces and maintain a “credible defense capability,” thereby serving U.S. national, economic, and security interests.
Recent Comments