TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After several days of large shows of aerial force, a single Chinese military plane entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday (Oct. 5), marking the fifth intrusion this month.

One People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane flew into the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defense (MND). In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the PLAAF plane.

On Oct. 1, Beijing sent 38 military planes into Taiwan’s identification zone, followed by 39 aircraft the next day, and 16 airplanes on Oct. 3. On Monday (Oct. 4), the Chinese sent 56 warplanes into Taiwan’s ADIZ, a single day record since the MND began publicly reporting incursions since September 2020.

According to a MND report given to the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday (Oct. 5), more than 600 Chinese military sorties have been flown into Taiwan’s ADIZ already this year. Last year, 380 incursions were recorded in the southwest corner of the zone.

Since September last year, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by routinely sending aircraft into Taiwan’s ADIZ, with most occurrences taking place in the southwest corner. The number of PLAAF aircraft has noticeably increased over the past month and a half.

According to MND data, Chinese aircraft were tracked in Taiwan’s ADIZ 27 times in September, 14 times in August, 14 times in July, 10 times in June, 18 times in May, 22 times in April, 18 times in March, 17 times in February, and 27 times in January. Last year, they were observed 19 times in December, 22 times in November, and 22 times in October.



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