Large-scale Chinese military flights return after long absence: Taiwan

admin — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 17:36:00 +0000

Fighter jets of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army conduct joint combat training exercises around Taiwan Island. File
| Photo Credit: Xinhua News Agency via AP

Taiwan saw a surge of Chinese military planes near the island, its Defence Ministry said Sunday (March 15, 2026), after a sharp drop in flights over the past two weeks had sparked discussions among observers.

The Ministry detected 26 Chinese military aircraft around the island on Saturday (March 14, 2026), with 16 of them entering its northern, central and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone. Seven naval ships were spotted around the island, it reported.

The increased number of aircraft came after the Ministry reported a fall that left analysts scratching their heads about what China’s military may be up to.

Taiwan didn’t report any Chinese military planes that went beyond the median line and entered the zone for a week from February 27 to March 5. After two were detected on March 6, the next four days had none. Such flights resumed in small numbers between Wednesday and Friday.

The drop coincided with the annual meeting of China’s legislature. While such flights have fallen in the past during major events and public holidays, this year’s fall was more prominent than in the past.

Analysts said the meeting could not be the sole reason behind the recent drop. Another potential factor could be a desire to calm the waters with Washington weeks before a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House has said that Trump would travel to China from March 31 to April 2, though Beijing has not officially confirmed that.

Some observers also suggested the decline may be driven by a shift to the next phase in China’s military training and modernisation, with the army appearing to be exploring a new model for joint training between its forces.

China has vowed to seize the island, by force if necessary. Over the years, Beijing has sent warplanes and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis.

Taiwan’s military previously signalled that it wasn’t changing its defence posture because of the falloff in Chinese warplane activity.

Defence Minister Wellington Koo earlier noted that China’s navy has remained active in nearby waters, even as military flights have fallen off.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party rose to power in Beijing following a civil war. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan, which later transitioned from martial law to multiparty democracy.

Published – March 15, 2026 10:58 pm IST

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Xi Jinping calls to prepare for war as China launches live-fire exercise in Taiwan Strait

admin — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 05:11:38 +0000

China’s military began a live-fire exercise near Taiwan. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

China’s military began a live-fire exercise near Taiwan on Tuesday (October 22, 2024), maintaining pressure on the self-ruled island after staging large-scale drills and President Xi Jinping called for troops to prepare for war.

China’s Communist Party has never ruled the island, but it claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.

This month it sent planes and warships around the island in what Beijing said was a “stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan Independence’ forces”.

Also Read: China lodges protest with India over Taiwan’s office in Mumbai

On Monday, the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) in the eastern island of Pingtan announced that “gun firing” would take place in a limited area close to the Chinese mainland, about 105km (66 miles) from Taiwan.

The MSA said they would start at 9:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) and take place for four hours in an area encompassing about 150 sqkm (60 square miles).

Also Read: Where do China-Taiwan relations stand? | Explained

Pingtan is the closest point in mainland China to Taiwan’s main island. Maritime authorities did not say which Chinese force would carry out the live firing, or its objective.

In response to the drills, Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said it was closely monitoring China’s “military activities and intentions”.

Taipei said the exercises could be part of Beijing’s “tactics to bolster its intimidation in conjunction with the dynamics in the Taiwan Strait”.

Premier Cho Jung-tai described them as a “threat that undermines regional peace and stability”.

Passing ships

Over the weekend, a U.S. and a Canadian warship passed through the 180km Taiwan Strait, part of regular passages by Washington and its allies meant to reinforce its status as an international waterway.

Beijing condemned the passage as disrupting “peace and stability” in the strait.

China sent a record number of military aircraft as well as warships and coast guard vessels to encircle Taiwan on October 14 in the fourth round of major drills in just over two years in the area.

Taiwan deployed forces and put outlying islands on heightened alert in response to the exercises.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure on Taipei in recent years, deploying on a near-daily basis warplanes and other military aircraft as well as ships around the island.

Following its “Joint Sword-2024B” exercises, its army vowed never to renounce the use of force to retake the island.

In a visit to a brigade of the Chinese military’s Rocket Force in the wake of those drills, President Xi urged them to strengthen their preparedness for war, state media said.

Published – October 22, 2024 10:41 am IST

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China attack on Taiwan – Artifex.News

Large-scale Chinese military flights return after long absence: Taiwan

Xi Jinping calls to prepare for war as China launches live-fire exercise in Taiwan Strait

Passing ships