PLA sends record 71 warplanes near Taiwan after US increases military aid

More than 70 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes carried out operations near Taiwan in the 24 hours until 6am on Monday, with more than half crossing the de facto border between the self-ruled island and mainland China.

It is the highest number of PLA aircraft recorded in one day since the island’s defence ministry began making information on daily fly-bys public in 2020 and comes as tensions run high over Taipei’s closer security ties with the US.

The PLA Eastern Theatre Command staged joint combat readiness and firepower strike drills in airspace and waters around Taiwan on Sunday in retaliation for Washington’s approval of increased military aid for the island.

A total of 71 PLA warplanes and seven warships were detected around Taiwan in the period, and 47 crossed the median line, the unofficial border in the Taiwan Strait, and some of them entered Taiwan’s southwest air defence identification zone, Taiwan’s defence ministry said.

According to the ministry’s statement, which included a PLA flight path chart, the warplanes that crossed the de facto border included 12 J-11 fighter jets, six Sukhoi Su-30 fighters, six J-10s, 18 J-16s, one Y-8 early warning aircraft, one Y-8 anti-submarine plane, one KJ-500 early warning plane and two reconnaissance drones.

The mass fly-bys came after US President Joe Biden signed the National Defence Authorisation Act late last week. The defence spending bill includes the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act to increase military aid and security cooperation between the two sides.