Taiwan tracks PLA pressure as Japan and the US fly F-22s with F-15s over the East China Sea

Taiwan's defence ministry says it is tracking People's Liberation Army pressure around the island after counting 15 Chinese military aircraft, 10 navy ships and seven official ships in the Taiwan Strait approaches, as Japan and the United States flew a joint tactical air drill with four F-22 Raptors, two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighters and one E-767 early-warning aircraft over the East China Sea northwest of Okinawa on Wednesday, 14 October 2026.

Central News Agency reported the ministry's 6am-to-6am tally for 14 to 15 October and said 13 of the 15 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line into northern, central, southwestern and eastern airspace. The ministry said the armed forces responded with mission aircraft, navy ships and coastal missile systems. An earlier ministry notice on 14 October had already described 13 Chinese sorties going to sea from about 9:30am under what Beijing called a joint combat readiness patrol.

Japan's Joint Staff said on Thursday that the Japan-US training took place on 14 October in East China Sea airspace northwest of Okinawa's main island. The Japanese side flew two F-15s from the 9th Air Wing and one E-767 from the Airborne Early Warning Group, while the US side flew four F-22s, and the allies practised various tactical flying items. The release said the drill confirmed Japan-US readiness and the will to prevent unilateral changes to the status quo by force.

South Korea's OBS News, citing the Japanese release, reported that the Raptors operated near China's air-defence identification zone and read the sortie as pressure on Chinese carrier aviation after the Liaoning group entered the Western Pacific. The outlet said the flying was also meant to discourage a deeper Pacific push by the carrier group. Those claims about US intent could not be independently verified from the Japanese release, which did not name China or the Liaoning.

The Ryukyu Shimpo reported that Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15s from Naha Air Base arrived at US Kadena Air Base on 14 October for pre-exercise training ahead of Keen Sword 27, the Japan-US combined drill set for 19 to 29 October. Four F-15s had also been seen at Kadena on 13 October, the paper said, tying the week of flying to preparations for the larger island-chain exercise.

Military News Agency, the defence ministry's own wire, likewise said Chinese aircraft, ships and official vessels kept operating around Taiwan and that the armed forces were monitoring and responding. The ministry's English PLA activities notice for the same 6am window said the ROC Armed Forces employed CAP aircraft, navy ships and coastal missile systems against the detected activity.

Taken together, the Taiwan tally and the Japan-US F-22 sortie show how PLA pressure around Taiwan now sits beside allied fifth-generation flying on the northern approaches in the same 24-hour window. Taipei's public reporting stays on the aircraft and ships it can count near home waters, while Tokyo's release stays on alliance readiness, yet both point to a denser air picture northwest and east of Taiwan as Keen Sword approaches.