Why Chinese military flights towards Taiwan prefer southwestern zone
- There is a strategic objective to the PLA flight paths but the needs of commercial airliners may also have a part to play
- Most of the record number of sorties head towards the southwest of the island’s air defence identification zone
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Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘over the top’ flights into island’s air defence zone
“But why do the PLA aircraft just fly to the southwest, no other areas?” said Lu Li-shih, a former instructor at Taiwan’s Navy Academy in Kaohsiung.
“It is because there is a gap in the southwest, in Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range that is less than 3,000 metres (9,840ft) above sea level [the lowest point in the range], which allows the PLA’s aircraft radar system to glimpse Taiwan’s airbases in eastern Hualien and Taitung.”
Flying records issued by the Taiwanese defence ministry over the past few years showed the mainland aircraft included the KJ-500 with early warning and control systems, J-16 fighters, H-6K bombers, Su-30 fighters and others, indicating the drills were also aimed at collecting data on the island’s terrain and landscapes.
