Taiwan: "11 Chinese Military Aircraft Violate Median Line and ADIZ over Taiwan Strait"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Since Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Taiwan, Chinese military aircraft have been crossing back and forth over the median line of the Taiwan Strait daily, conducting shows of force.

On the 14th, the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense announced on its website that as of 5 p.m. that day, 22 Chinese military aircraft and 6 warships had been detected around the Taiwan Strait.

Among them, 10 aircraft?including 4 Su-30 fighters, 2 J-10 fighters, 2 J-11 fighters, and 2 J-16 fighters?crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and then returned, while one KJ-500 early warning aircraft entered Taiwan’s southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

In response, the Taiwanese military immediately scrambled fighter jets and activated air defense missile systems to track the aircraft, the ministry explained.

The median line of the Taiwan Strait is an unofficial boundary declared in 1955 by U.S. Air Force General Benjamin Davis to prevent military clashes between China and Taiwan, following the mutual defense treaty signed between the U.S. and Taiwan in December 1954.

In retaliation for Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan (August 2?3), the Chinese military conducted recent military blockade exercises around Taiwan and declared the end of these exercises on the 10th, but vowed to maintain regular combat readiness patrols going forward.

Before Pelosi’s visit, the Chinese Air Force conducted shows of force by entering the Air Defense Identification Zone, but after Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, they have escalated the situation by sending military aircraft and warships east of the median line of the Taiwan Strait.