The Chinese PLA Air Force answered the State Department’s “concern” about Chinese air exercises near Taiwan by launching its largest one yet. Fifty-two PLA aircraft — 34 J-16 fighter jets, two Su-30 fighter jets, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, two KJ-500 early warning aircraft, and 12 H-6 bombers — flew into Taiwan’s self-declared air defense identification zone (ADIZ) yesterday during daylight hours, and four more in the evening, making for a total of 56 aircraft, according to statements issued by the Taiwan defense ministry, reported Global Times.
Some reports have claimed that PLA aircraft flew into Taiwan’s airspace. This is not true. The ADIZ is not territorial airspace and has no standing in international law. In the case of Taiwan, the ADIZ marks out airspace that the Taiwan defense authorities have decided is a warning area in which they should react to intrusions of foreign military aircraft. In fact, published maps, including those of Taiwan’s defense ministry, show the Taiwan ADIZ extending northwestwards into the PRC itself.
As for why the PLA is sending so many aircraft to exercise near Taiwan, Alexander Huang Chieh-cheng, a professor of international relations and strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taipei, speculates that the PLA was showing its strength to a domestic audience during the mainland’s National Day and ahead of the personnel reshuffle in the Communist Party congress next year. “The PLA wants to send a strong signal to this joint drill, especially after Australia, the UK and the US formed a trilateral security pact obviously targeting Beijing,” he told the South China Morning Post, referring to the AUKUS alliance.
