TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Intrusions by Chinese military aircraft into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in September spiked by 42% from August.

In September, 225 Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) military planes breached Taiwan's ADIZ, a 42.2% increase from the 130 reported by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) in August. Overall, there were 565 Chinese military aircraft tracked around Taiwan in September, according to Damien Symon, an open-source intelligence researcher.

On Sunday (Oct. 1), Symon uploaded a map on X (formerly Twitter) showing the location of intrusions by PLAAF aircraft into Taiwan's ADIZ recorded in September, including 225 incursions over the median line. Unlike August, when a number of aircraft fully encircled Taiwan, most of the PLAAF missions conducted in September occurred around the median line and southwest and southeast sectors of the ADIZ.

A chart by Ben Lewis, an independent defense analyst, shows the trend line for violations by Chinese combat aircraft of Taiwan's ADIZ had been dipping from the spike of 259 seen in April, until September, when the incursions surged significantly. However, the number of days Taiwan's ADIZ was violated by PLAAF aircraft decreased slightly from 23 in August to 18 in September.

The approximate total of PLAAF sorties into Taiwan's ADIZ from 2018 to 2023 has reached 4,473. The following maps show the locations of violations by Chinese aircraft in the ADIZ in August and September 2023.

PLAAF intrusions around Taiwan in August. (Damien Symon image)

PLAAF intrusions around Taiwan in September. (Damien Symon image)