China sends 77 warplanes to Taiwan’s defense zone in two days, says Taipei

(CNN) – Taiwan reported a record number of Chinese warplane sorties into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) for the second day in a row, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said Saturday night.

The autonomous island said a total of 39 Chinese military aircraft entered the ADIZ on Saturday, one more than the 38 planes he saw on Friday.

The 38 and 39 aircraft, respectively, are the largest number of sorties Taiwan has reported in a single day since it began publicly reporting such activities last year.

The raids on Saturday occurred in two batches: 20 planes during the daytime and 19 planes at night, according to the Ministry in two statements. They were carried out by 26 J-16 fighter jets, 10 Su-30 fighter jets, two Y-8 anti-submarine warning planes and one KJ-500 early warning and air control plane, the Defense Ministry said.

20 PLA ​​aircraft (J-16 * 14, SU-30 * 4 and Y-8 ASW * 2) entered #Taiwan‘s southwest ADIZ on October 2, 2021. Please check our official website for more information: https://t.co/ga0zLOIC4d pic.twitter.com/SA59EdkJW5

– 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC ?? (@MoNDefense) October 2, 2021

Response from Taiwan

In response to the raids, Taiwanese air forces deployed aircraft, issued radio alerts and deployed air defense missile systems, the ministry added.

Maps provided by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense showed that all of the Chinese flights on Saturday occurred at the ADIZ’s southwestern end of the island.

19 PLA aircraft (J-16 * 12, SU-30 * 6 and KJ-500 AEW & C) entered #Taiwan‘s southwest ADIZ on the night of October 2, 2021. Please check our official website for more information: https://t.co/Vl6bWi8Cem pic.twitter.com/6IK77Bd3wY

– 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC ?? (@MoNDefense) October 2, 2021

The sorties did not violate Taiwan’s airspace, which extends 12 nautical miles from its coast. The US Federal Aviation Administration defines an ADIZ as “a designated area of ​​airspace over land or water within which a country requires immediate and positive identification, location, and air traffic control of aircraft in interest of the national security of the country “.

Before the last two days, the previous record of a day of flights of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the ADIZ Taiwan was in June, when 28 Chinese military aircraft entered.

Constant tension between Taiwan and China

Friday’s raids came as Beijing celebrated 72 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Taiwan and mainland China have ruled each other separately since the end of a civil war more than seven decades ago, in which defeated nationalists fled to Taipei.

However, Beijing regards Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory, even though the Chinese Communist Party has never ruled the democratic island of some 24 million people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has refused to rule out the use of military force to take Taiwan if necessary.

What are the raids from China for?

In the past, analysts have said that PLA flights are likely to serve a number of purposes for China, both to demonstrate the PLA’s strength to a domestic audience and to give the Chinese military intelligence and skills they would need in any potential conflict involving the Chinese. Taiwan

“Xi Jinping has instructed the PLA to increase its readiness and readiness for warfare in ‘realistic combat conditions.’ It is therefore relatively unsurprising that the PLA continues to fly in Taiwan’s ADIZ as part of training. realistic and preparedness for armed conflict, “Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation policy think tank, told CNN on Saturday.

Despite the surge in PLA flights and harsh rhetoric, Grossman does not believe combat is imminent.

“I don’t think there is a high or even medium probability of a Chinese attack or invasion of Taiwan,” he told CNN.

“The PLA still has many vulnerabilities, especially when faced with almost certain US intervention with possible, likely? Japanese and Australian support,” he added. “China understands the serious drawbacks of a failed attack or invasion of Taiwan and will likely continue to bide its time.”

Potential point of conflict

But any message envisioned by Beijing may not refer to the main island of Taiwan, other analysts say.

Maps provided by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense show that PLA Air Force flights arrive in the vicinity of Pratas Island, which is high up in the South China Sea and is actually closer to Hong Kong than Taiwan.

This island has no permanent residents, but is home to a small Taiwanese military contingent and has an airstrip. Analysts point out that it is flat and that it would be difficult to defend.

“China could take control of the Pratas Islands when China’s President Xi Jinping decides,” Yoshiyuki Ogasawara, a professor at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, wrote in December. at The Diplomat.

“The islands are a potential point of conflict that must now draw the attention of the United States, Japan and other democratic countries,” Ogasawara wrote.