Beijing shows it’s ‘not taking its foot off the gas’ with latest incursion into Taiwan air zone

PLA sent 25 warplanes into the island’s air defence identification zone on Monday
Analysts say it was a bid to put further strain on the Taiwanese military and a message for Washington

Taiwan

Kristin Huang

Published: 11:00pm, 13 Apr 2021

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Beijing’s move to send 25 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Monday aimed to heap more pressure on the island and send a message to Washington, according to analysts.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 14 J-16 fighter jets, four J-10 fighter jets, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft were sent into the southwest of the ADIZ.

It was the biggest number of People’s Liberation Army warplanes to enter the Taiwanese air zone, according to the defence ministry.

Jon Grevatt, a warplane specialist and Asia-Pacific defence analyst at Janes, said the aircraft involved suggested the PLA saw it as similar to a combat air patrol, but it was also a show of force.

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“It [combat air patrol or surveillance missions] usually happens in territories that are your own – obviously, China regards Taiwan as its own,” Grevatt said, adding that some of the warplanes like the anti-submarine aircraft would have picked up useful information.

“As it enters Taiwan airspace, it’s also a show of force as well. It is intended to show that China is not taking its foot off the gas, that China is not retreating following the US secretary of state’s comments,” he said.

A day before the latest incursion, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Beijing against invading Taiwan, a self-ruled island of 24 million that the Chinese government regards as a breakaway province that must eventually be reunited with the mainland – by force if necessary.

Blinken stressed that Washington has a long-standing commitment under the Taiwan Relations Act to ensure that the island “has the ability to defend itself” and to ensure peace and security in the Western Pacific. “We stand behind those commitments,” he said.

Monday’s flights came a little more than two weeks after the PLA sent 20 warplanes to the same area on March 26, just after Taipei and Washington signed their first agreement under the Joe Biden administration, for coastguard cooperation.

Beijing is using this patrol to tell the island not to take advantage of those closer US ties while also reaping economic benefits from the Chinese mainland

Beijing-based military expert Zhou Chenming

After making a record number of incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ in 2020, there has been no let-up in PLA activity near the democratic island this year. The Taipei-based Liberty Times newspaper estimated aerial approaches had taken place on at least 86 out of the 102 days this year up to Monday.

It has already put a strain on Taiwan’s military, with Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng saying last month that the island may use aircraft other than just fighter jets to respond to PLA warplanes entering the ADIZ, to reduce costs.

Beijing-based military expert Zhou Chenming said the latest deployment of warplanes was a clear message to Taipei.

“The independence-leaning [President] Tsai Ing-wen has increasingly edged closer to Washington, and Beijing is using this patrol to tell the island not to take advantage of those closer US ties while also reaping economic benefits from the Chinese mainland,” Zhou said.

According to Chieh Chung, a professor of international relations and strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taipei, the PLA sortie could also have been training for a possible attack on US Navy ships.

“It was an attack group … with the KJ-500 to monitor the situation, bombers to attack targets and fighters to provide protection,” Chieh told Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency on Tuesday. “But since Beijing didn’t dispatch any tanker aircraft, the mission was a short-range one.”

Taiwan says PLA flies 25 warplanes into its airspace, the largest incursion yet

The US has boosted its military presence in the region as tensions continue to rise.

China and the US have both sailed aircraft carriers in the South China Sea in recent weeks, with the USS Theodore Roosevelt conducting exercises with Malaysia last week and the USS Makin Island amphibious warship also sent to the disputed waters. Both were reportedly seen patrolling south of Taiwan during the incursion on Monday.

A KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft was also sent into Taiwan’s ADIZ. Photo: 81.com

In addition, the USS Mustin guided-missile destroyer was in the East China Sea and edged close to China’s Yangtze River on April 4, the Beijing-based South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative said, citing satellite data.

Meanwhile, Taiwan on Tuesday launched its first modern amphibious assault and transport vessel to meet its defence needs in the South China Sea.

Additional reporting by Lawrence Chung

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