Taiwan tracks 27 Chinese military aircraft as 21 cross the median line in a combat patrol and far-sea drill

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said on Tuesday 20 October that China had sent 27 military aircraft sorties out over the seas around Taiwan, and that 21 of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or its extension. The ministry said the flights were part of what Beijing calls a joint combat readiness patrol, held this time together with a so-called far-sea long voyage by Chinese warships.

In a release issued at 2.30 pm Taiwan time, the ministry said its forces began detecting the aircraft from 10.43 am. The types it listed were J-10, J-11 and J-16 fighters, JH-7 fighter-bombers, H-6 bombers and KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft, along with drones. The aircraft that crossed the median line entered airspace to Taiwan's north, centre and south-west, and some flew on into airspace over the western Pacific.

The ministry said the aircraft operated in coordination with Chinese warships and used the two declared activities as cover to harass the air and sea space around Taiwan. It said Taiwan's armed forces monitored the movements closely with joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets and dispatched aircraft, naval ships and shore-based missile systems to respond. The release did not say how many Chinese warships took part or where they sailed.

Newtalk reported that after crossing the median line the aircraft continued into the western Pacific for joint air and sea training and long-range flights, and described the scale of the activity as clearly larger than the PLA's recent routine patrols. It said Taiwan's military had the situation in hand and was continuing to monitor it. The outlet also noted that the flights followed a day on which Chinese drones and reconnaissance aircraft operated near Japan's southwestern islands while US and Japanese forces were holding a major joint exercise in the region.

Newtalk recalled that the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning and its escorts sailed through the Miyako Strait into the western Pacific on 14 October and carried out about 10 aircraft take-offs and landings roughly 250 kilometres south of Ishigaki Island, before turning towards the South China Sea on 15 October. It said there was no confirmation yet of whether Tuesday's air and sea training was linked to the carrier group or involved only other Chinese ships operating in the area.

Earlier on Tuesday, in its regular morning tally, the ministry reported 14 Chinese military aircraft, seven naval vessels and seven official ships around Taiwan in the 24 hours to 6 am, with eight aircraft sorties crossing the median line into the northern, central, south-western and eastern parts of Taiwan's air defence identification zone. Taiwan News reported that Taiwan had tracked Chinese military aircraft 134 times and ships 237 times so far this month, and that Taiwan again sent aircraft, ships and coastal missile systems in response.

Tuesday's announcement describes a larger operation than the ministry's previous joint combat readiness patrol release on 14 October. That release reported 13 aircraft sorties, including J-16, J-11 and Su-30 fighters, JH-7 fighter-bombers and a Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, with 11 crossing the median line into northern, central and south-western airspace. The earlier release referred only to a combat readiness patrol, made no mention of a far-sea long voyage and did not list western Pacific airspace among the areas the aircraft entered.