Two Chinese surveillance aircraft intruded into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) four times on Monday and were intercepted by Taiwanese fighter jets and escorted out of the zone each time, a senior air force official said yesterday.
In each incident, a single Y-8 electronic surveillance plane flew through the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s defensive zone, where its position was identified by the Republic of China (ROC) Air Force, Air Force Combat Command Chief of Staff Major General Hsiung Hou-chi (熊厚基) said.
Two of the intrusions occurred in the morning on one sortie, when a Y-8 aircraft flew through the zone as it headed toward the Philippines and then flew back through the zone as it returned to China, Hsiung said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
The pattern then repeated itself in the afternoon with a different plane.
Each intrusion lasted about 10 minutes, and they all occurred at altitudes of about 6,700m, he said.
They were the first intrusions into Taiwan’s air defense zone this month by aircraft from another country, he said.
Mirage 2000 fighter jets were dispatched to intercept the Chinese aircraft in the morning and maintained visual contact until it left the zone, while Taiwan’s Indigenous Defense Fighter jets were used in the afternoon intercepts, Hsiung said.
“We followed them closely to make sure they left our ADIZ,” Hsiung said.
He declined to disclose the number of fighter jets scrambled for the intercepts.
The ADIZ is an indication of national sovereignty and Taiwan’s military has an obligation to deal with any contingency involving the intrusion of foreign aircraft, he said.
The Chinese-language United Daily News cited an unidentified military officer as saying that Chinese aircraft had detoured in the past to avoid entering Taiwan’s ADIZ.
By entering the air defense zone this time, the Chinese air force could test Taiwan’s air surveillance capabilities and its reaction to intruders, the officer said.
Calling the action of the Chinese surveillance aircraft provocative, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) yesterday said that if the government does not protest to Beijing over the matter, China in the future may further overstep the line and threaten Taiwan’s national defense.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The incident came amid speculation that China may set up an ADIZ in the South China Sea to assert its territorial claims.
Last year, it declared an ADIZ in the East China Sea that included islands also claimed by Taiwan and Japan.
Additional reporting by Chou Ssu-yu, AFP and Reuters
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the