TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — One Chinese military aircraft and three U.S. military planes entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (Feb. 1).

A single People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of the ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, the Taiwanese military scrambled fighter jets, issued radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to track the Chinese plane.

In addition to the PLAAF aircraft, three American military planes were tracked in Taiwan’s identification zone, comprising two reconnaissance planes and one aerial refueling tanker. The MND did not publicly disclose the types of these planes nor their flight paths.

Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has been regularly sending planes into Taiwan’s ADIZ, with most sorties occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually carried out by one to three PLAAF aircraft. Chinese planes were spotted there on a total of 27 days in January, while last year they were detected 19 times in December, 22 times in November, and 22 times in October, including a drone on Oct. 22.



Flight path of Chinese Y-8 ASW on Feb. 1 (MND image)