A People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Thursday afternoon, China’s third incursion this month.
According to a Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense post on Twitter, one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane was spotted entering the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ. This is the third time a Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s ADIZ this week— two PLA aircraft (Y-8 RECCE and Y-8 ASW) were reported entering on Sunday and one PLA Y-8 ASW on Tuesday.
In response, Taiwan dispatched air patrols, issued radio warnings, dispatched an anti-aircraft missile tracking and monitoring combat air patrol (CAP) aircraft, and deployed air defense missile systems to monitor the Chinese aircraft’s activity.
Chinese planes were recorded entering Taiwan’s identification zone 22 times in April, 18 times in March, 17 times in February, and 27 times in January, according to MND data. An ADIZ is a part of a country’s air space where any detected aircraft is identified and located in the interest of national security.
This week, a Taiwanese military expert warned about the development of China’s Yun-you-20 and a refueling tanker variant, which is said to be capable of long-range raids.