TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Wednesday (June 21) said a Chinese state-run media report claiming that Xian H-6K bombers had flown nighttime "encirclement flights" around Taiwan actually refers to missions conducted five years ago.

On Monday (June 19), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China's Xi Jinping (習近平) for 35 minutes in an attempt by the White House to ease tensions between the two countries. Later that evening, China's state-run Global Times published an article titled "H-6K bombers conduct nighttime Taiwan island encirclement flights."

The article claimed H-6K bombers had carried out "nighttime sorties encircling the island of Taiwan." It cited "experts" as saying on Monday that such night patrols around Taiwan will "become routine and will send a warning to everyone who attempts to separate the island from China."

The report cited China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday as saying the second air group under an aviation regiment of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) was the first unit to carry out night flights around Taiwan since the H-6K had been commissioned. However, no date was given as to when these night missions had been conducted.

Wei Xiaogang, an instructor at the air group, was quoted in the CCTV report as saying, "We have the capability to sortie at any time and anywhere, be it at day, at night, or before dawn." The Global Times report claimed that it is a "rare occasion" for such nighttime flights around Taiwan to take place and listed May 2018 as the first time that Taiwan's MND had reported detecting the PLAAF conducting such operations.

When asked if China conducted nighttime bomber patrols on Monday night, an MND official told Taiwan News that no such flights had taken place. The MND said only two night flights by H-6 bombers around Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) have been detected, and those both occurred in 2018.

The first incident occurred on April 18, 2018, when two H-6K bombers crossed the Miyako Strait in the Western Pacific in the "afternoon." After flying over the Bashi Channel, the bombers returned to their original base as they concluded a long-distance training mission over the ocean.

The second incident occurred on May 25, 2018, when two H-6K bombers flew over the Bashi Channel and entered the Miyako Strait at 4 a.m. to carry out long-distance training over the open sea.

In both cases, in response, the MND dispatched aircraft and naval vessels to monitor the PLAAF aircraft. The ministry stressed that there were no abnormal activities detected during those flights and called on the public to not be overly concerned about the incidents.