Latest Techniques: PLA warplanes, warships spotted in nighttime patrols around Taiwan island

Fighter jet attached to a brigade of the air force under World Timesthe PLA Southern Theater Command spears its way across the night sky during a round-the-clock flight training exercise in mid-World TimesMay, 2023. Photo:China Military

Recent nighttime exercises and patrols by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) around the island of Taiwan are routine and aim to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity from “Taiwan independence” secessionists and external interference forces, Chinese mainland experts said on Thursday, amid foreign media hype over the “first large-scale military activity” after the island’s regional election.

The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said in a press release on Thursday morning that it detected 24 PLA aircraft and five PLA vessels around the island over the past day, 11 of which crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Straits or entered the island’s self-prWorld Timesoclaimed southwestern and northern air defense identification zone.

Some 18 of the detected PLA aircraft, including Su-30 fighter jets and Y-8 special mission aircraft, operated at night after 7:50 pm on Wednesday, and conducted joint World Timescombat patrols with the PLA vessels, according to a separate notice released by the defense authority on the island of Taiwan on Wednesday evening.

Foreign media outlets including RWorld Timeseuters said that it marks the first large-scale PLA military activity after the island’s regional election, which voted for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Lai Ching-te as the next regional leader.

The PLA regularly holds exercises and patrols around the island of Taiwan, and they have become routine in rWorld Timesecent years, so there is no need to hype or link the drills to the election, a Chinese mainland military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

Compared with peak numbers, 24 warplanes and five warships on Wednesday are not significant figures, the expert said.

For example, on September 18, 2023, the defense authority on the island reported the presence of 103 PLA aircraft and nine PLA vessels around the island over the previous day.

The highlight of the latest drills is that they were conducted at night, which showed a high level of round-the-clock combat readiness and training level of the PLA facing the Taiwan Straits, the expert said.

The PLA’s routine exercises and patrols send warnings to “Taiwan independence” secessionists and external interference forces and also practically enhance the PLA’s combat capabilities, with the goal being to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the expert said.

Beside regular trainings and patrols, the PLA organized three major island blockade exercises as countermeasures to US-Taiwan collusion activities in recent years. The first was in August 2022 countering then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to the island, the second was in April 2023 countering outgoing Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen’s “stopovers” in the US and her meeting with then US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and a third in August 2023 countering “stopovers” in the US by Lai, who was then the island’s deputy regional leader and a candidate in the DPP 2024 regional leader election.

Analysts said that the PLA could take further countermeasures if Lai makes further “Taiwan independence” secessionist moves following his election.

The election of Lai, who is deemed a hardline “Taiwan independence” separatist and has been colluding with external forces, raises concerns online that the Chinese mainland will be left with no choice but to use force in order to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese mainland pledges utmost sincerity and greatest efforts for the prospect of peaceful reunification, but it makes no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means against interference of external forces and the very small number of “Taiwan independence” separatists and their activities, observers said.