Shandong aircraft carrier, warplanes and navy ships skirt Taiwan coast on way to combat drills
- Taiwan tracks at least 84 PLA warplanes and 33 warships in three days as the carrier conducts joint sea and air training in western Pacific
- Largest mainland drills in months aim to make carrier combat ready, flex PLA muscles in the region and respond to Western military exercises, analyst says
Some 35 PLA warplanes – including J-10, J-16 and Su-30 fighter jets as well as Y-9 and Y-20 transport planes, KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft and drones – were detected around Taiwan on Wednesday morning, the ministry said in a statement.
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“Twenty-eight of them crossed the median line and entered our southwest air defence identification zone (ADIZ),” the ministry said, referring to the de facto line that separates the island from the mainland in the Taiwan Strait.
“Some of the warplanes headed towards the western Pacific through Bashi Channel to join the Shandong for a joint sea and air training.”
The ministry said it had sent warplanes and warships to monitor the PLA’s sea and air activities and it deployed missile systems in response.
The latest sorties bring the total number of PLA warplanes detected around Taiwan in the past three days to 84, with 50 crossing the median line and entering the island’s southwest ADIZ near the Bashi Channel.
The ministry said it had also spotted 33 warships sailing around Taiwan in the past three days, with 20 detected – the largest fleet in recent months – as the Shandong sailed past Taiwan towards the western Pacific on Monday for combat training.
