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Two Chinese military spotter planes enter Taiwan’s ADIZ

Incident marks 5th consecutive day PLA planes spotted in zone

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Chinese Y-8 RECCE. (MND photo)

Chinese Y-8 RECCE. (MND photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — New satellite photographs reveal Beijing probably leveraging an unused civilian airport on the opposite side of the Strait of Taiwan in Guangdong province to conduct its incursions into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Multiple photos taken at different times show Chinese military aircraft positioned at the airport which affirm reports by the Taiwanese military to the same effect, according to a Defense News report released on Friday (Oct. 29).

The airport, named Shantou-Waisha airport, lies directly west over the Strait from the city of Tainan. It used to service the city of Shantou until 2011 when nearby Jieyang-Chaoshan airport opened its doors and became the city’s civilian airport.

Rotating detachments of PLA aircraft have been present there since at least October last year, according to satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs.

Images from that time show two Shaanxi KQ-200 anti-submarine warfare aircraft on what was once the civil parking apron.

China’s KQ-200s have been the most commonly sighted aircraft seen by Taiwan crossing into the ADIZ. The units that are known to operate these aircrafts are based at Dachang in Shanghai to the north and at Qionghai on the southern Chinese island of Hainan in the South China Sea, per reports.

Taking off from the airport cuts the time needed for pilots to break into the ADIZ and position themselves to conduct flight training over the southern part of the Taiwan Strait, the northern part of the South China Sea and the Bashi Channel simultaneously, per reports.

The Bashi channel sits between Taiwan and the Philippines. It is a major strategic choke point located along the so-called First Island Chain which Chinese military planners aim to break through in the years to come.