China sends large group of military aircraft toward Taiwan

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on Friday reported that China’s air force flew 11 warplanes into the Taiwan air defense identification zone on 10 February.

The sorties consisted of 8 Shenyang J-16 fighter jets, along with three electronic intelligence aircraft on the Y-8 platform.

Taiwanese officials said that their responses to the PLA sorties included the scrambling of combat aircraft, the employment of air defense assets to further monitor the situation, and the issuing of warning messages to the Chinese aircraft via radio.

Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has complained for more than a year of repeated missions by China’s air force near the democratically governed island, often in the southwestern part of its air defense identification zone, or ADIZ.