Record 16 PLA warships sailed close to Taiwan in single day, island’s defence ministry says

Beijing has sent fighter jets and warships to Taiwan’s self-declared air defence identification zone (ADIZ) almost every day in recent years, as relations worsened under Tsai’s independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

William Lai addresses the DPP annual congress in Taipei on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Those trips only intensified after Pelosi’s visit, with PLA jets more willing to fly across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, a tacit boundary that both sides generally abided by for decades until 2019. Beijing no longer recognises the line.

The increased military pressure also comes with Taiwan preparing for presidential elections in January, when Tsai reaches her mandated two-term limit.

Latest opinion polls show DPP candidate William Lai Ching-te to be the front runner, with Hou Yu-ih of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang – Taiwan’s main opposition party – placing third, behind Ko Wen-je of the relatively new Taiwan People’s Party.

Last week also saw an uptick in PLA forays around Taiwan, with dozens of planes sent each day, according to the defence ministry in Taipei.

PLA planes including bombers, drones, and the advanced Su-30 and J-16 fighter jets made 32 flights in the 24 hours before 6am on Wednesday.

Some of them flew from the southwest of Taiwan to its south, while others crossed the strait median line. This was followed by 33 flights on Thursday and 30 on Friday, along similar routes.

“ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked [combat air patrol] aircraft, navy vessels and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities,” Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a daily statement announcing the incursions, using the initialism of Taiwan’s official name, the Republic of China.

The number of flights dropped to 15 on Saturday, 10 on Sunday and 11 on Monday. No PLA plane had crossed the median line or entered the southwestern sector of the Taiwanese ADIZ since Sunday, the ministry said.

Neither the defence ministry in Beijing nor the PLA announced any heightened military activity near Taiwan.

The flights and warship passages reflected the PLA’s plans to normalise drills around Taiwan, former PLA instructor Song Zhongping said.

Such acts are considered politically provocative and are Beijing’s form of protest against closer engagement between Taipei and other governments, especially Washington.