TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) said that since 5:20 a.m. Wednesday (July 10), it has tracked 37 Chinese military aircraft around Taiwan.
Of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 36 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered the Western Pacific via the southern and southeastern areas of the country's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). The aircraft included Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, Xian H-6 bombers, Shaanxi KJ-500 early warning and control aircraft, and drones.
According to the MND, the aircraft are conducting “joint sea and air training” with the Shandong. The MND said it sent combat patrol aircraft and naval vessels and deployed land-based air defense missile systems to monitor the situation.
Earlier on Wednesday, the MND said it had tracked 35 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. Tuesday (July 9) and 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Of the 35 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 26 crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered the northern, southwestern, and southeastern ADIZ. The PLA aircraft came as close as 72 km (39 NM) from Eluanbi and 88 km (48 NM) from Keelung.
On Tuesday (July 9), the Joint Staff of Japan's Ministry of Defense (MOD) announced the Shandong carrier strike group was spotted about 520 km southeast of Miyakojima in Okinawa Prefecture. The Shandong was escorted by the Type 055 destroyer the Yan'an, the Type 052D destroyer the Guilin, and the Type 054A frigate the Yuncheng.