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Taiwan said it launched fighter jets on Thursday night to protect itself from a Chinese fighter jet that had entered its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) near a group of islets administered by Taipei.
The PLA Air Force Y-8 surveillance aircraft entered the southwestern sector of the area near the Pratas Islands, known as the Dongsha Islands in mainland China, the Defense Ministry said.
The fighters were scrambled and warnings were issued telling the PLA fighter plane to leave the area, it said in a short statement.
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The Pratas, which comprise an island, two coral reefs and two shoals, are located about 445 km (275 miles) from the southern Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung, and just over 300 km from the mainland of China.
The area has been designated a national park and has no human residents except for a coast guard garrison. In August, Taiwan sent a company of Marines to reinforce the garrison amid reports that the People’s Liberation Army was planning a mock attack on the islets.
Despite the fact that Thursday is China’s National Day, which this year overlapped with the Mid-Autumn Festival, the timing of the PLA’s latest raid did not surprise Hong Kong-based military commentator Song Zhongping.
“The PLA does not take days off … it is preparing for possible conflicts, because the world is not peaceful now,” he said.
The southwestern ADIZ area of Taiwan was an important transit area for US and Taiwanese submarines and had been under constant surveillance by the PLA, he said.
“These submarines pose the greatest threat to future PLA military operations there.”
Fighter jets crossed the middle line in the Taiwan Strait, says Taipei
Taiwanese military expert Huang Jingping said in an interview with local media on Tuesday that the PLA’s frequent patrols in the ADIZ were designed to ensure that the mainland Chinese military was familiar with Taipei’s maneuvers in order to blockade the island in case of a war.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense has complained about repeated incursions by PLA surveillance planes and fighter jets into its airspace in recent weeks. During a visit to the island by US Undersecretary of State Keith Krach in mid-September to attend the funeral of the late President Lee Teng-hui, the ministry reported 37 incidents in just two days.
This article Taiwan scrambles fighter jets after PLA spy plane enters air defense zone first appeared in the South China Morning Post
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