TAIPEI, Oct 18: Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported on Friday that it had tracked 27 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels operating close to its territorial boundaries. The ministry said that 19 of the aircraft had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, entering the northern, central, and southwestern parts of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Posting on X, the MND noted that its forces were monitoring the situation closely and had taken appropriate response measures to safeguard national security. Earlier the same day, Taiwan’s defense authorities also recorded the movement of 21 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and nine People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships around the island. The ministry said the aircraft, including J-16 fighters and KJ-500 early warning planes, had participated in joint air-sea exercises with Chinese naval vessels.
In a subsequent update, Taiwan’s military confirmed that 18 more PLA aircraft and nine PLAN vessels had been detected later, with all aircraft crossing the median line into various sectors of Taiwan’s ADIZ. The MND said its Armed Forces maintained a heightened state of vigilance in response.
At a military parade on September 3 in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, China showcased three nuclear-capable missiles, the JL-1 air-launched ballistic missile, JL-3 submarine-launched intercontinental missile, and DF-61 surface-to-surface intercontinental missile.
Meanwhile, growing concern surrounds China’s rapid buildup of its nuclear capabilities, which analysts say could embolden Beijing to use nuclear coercion in the event of a Taiwan conflict. Observers have drawn parallels between this strategy and Moscow’s nuclear posturing during its war in Ukraine, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA).
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