Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has announced that a total of 28 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft entered the island's southwestern air-defence identification zone (ADIZ) on 15 June: the largest number registered since the MND began making public PLA aircraft movements near Taiwan in mid-September 2020.
The ministry said in a statement that the aircraft included 14 J-16 and six J-11 multirole fighters, four H-6 strategic bombers, one KQ-200 anti-submarine warfare (ASW)-capable aircraft, one Y-8 electronic warfare-capable special mission aircraft, as well as two KJ-500 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platforms.
A total of 15 PLA aircraft were deployed in the morning, while the remaining 13 flew in the afternoon, entering the southwestern and southeastern parts of the island's ADIZ.
The development, which comes amid heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing over the status of Taiwan, took place only a day after the leaders of NATO member states issued a joint communiqué referring to China's behaviour as a as a “systemic challenge to the rules-based international order”. A day earlier, on 13 June, the leaders of the G7 countries had also issued a communiqué reiterating the importance of “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and encouraging the “peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues”.
It also follows a 9 June joint statement by the defence and foreign ministries of Japan and Australia , which for the first time emphasised the need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
A total of 28 PLA aircraft entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ on 15 June, according to the MND in Taipei, the largest number registered since the ministry began making public PLA aircraft movements near Taiwan in mid-September 2020. (Taiwan Ministry of National Defense)
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