Taiwan Detects 9 Chinese Vessels, 71 Aircraft Around Island, US Says Monitoring Beijing's Drills

Taiwan has detected 71 Chinese aircraft and 9 warship vessels around the island nation by 6 am (UTC+8), after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s Eastern Th

Taiwan on early Sunday morning stated that it has detected 71 Chinese aircraft and 9 warship vessels around the island nation by 6 am (UTC+8), after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s Eastern Theatre Command announced that China would hold three days of military exercises around Taiwan from Saturday. In a tweet, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defence added that its forces were ready to respond to these activities. The ministry has also posted a map showing the locations of the aircraft and the details of the aircraft.

"71 PLA aircraft and 9 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities," the Republic of China (Taiwan) defence ministry said in a tweet.

It added, "45 of the detected aircraft(SU-30*8, J-11*4, J-10*16, J-16*10, TB-001 UCAV, Y-9EW, Y-8 ASW, H-6K*2, Y-20, KJ-500) had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ, flight paths as illustrated."

Reacting to the development, de facto US embassy in Taiwan said on Sunday, "The United States is monitoring China's drills around Taiwan closely and is "comfortable and confident" it has sufficient resources and capabilities regionally to ensure peace and stability, the de facto US embassy in Taiwan said on Sunday, " reported ANI citing Reuters.

The drills began on Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a trip to the United States.

China will hold “combat readiness patrols” and exercises around the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south, and east of Taiwan “as planned”, the PLA announced in a brief statement without offering other details, as quoted by news agency Reuters.

According to CNN’s report, the Eastern Theater Command called the drills “a serious warning against the Taiwan separatist forces’ collusion with external forces, and a necessary move to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The exercises, dubbed “United Sharp Sword,” would feature “combat-ready patrols and exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait, and to the north, south and east of Taiwan and the sea and airspace as planned,” Senior Colonel Shi Yi of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said in a statement, as quoted by the report.