Taipei [Taiwan]: Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported on Wednesday that it detected 43 sorties of Chinese military aircraft and six Chinese naval vessels operating near Taiwan’s territorial waters as of 6 a.m. (local time).
According to Taiwan’s MND, 25 of these 43 aircraft crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).
“We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly,” the MND said in a post on X.
This is the latest in a series of military maneuvers by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the region, amid escalating cross-strait tensions.
On Tuesday, Taiwan also tracked 14 PLA aircraft, six PLAN vessels, and one official Chinese ship, all of which entered Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern ADIZ zones.
“14 out of 14 sorties crossed the median line,” the MND stated.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said it had “ejected” four China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels that entered waters controlled by Taiwan near Kinmen County on Wednesday morning.
According to the Central News Agency (CNA), the Chinese vessels—CCG 14603, 14608, 14609, and 14513—intruded into restricted areas off the Kinmen Islands near Liaoluo Bay and Damao Mountain at around 8:50 a.m. local time.
The CGA dispatched its own vessels to monitor and expel the intruding ships, reaffirming Taiwan’s determination to protect its territorial waters.
This incident closely followed a similar violation on Tuesday, where the same CCG ships entered the area and remained for over two hours before departing under surveillance.
These repeated incursions by both PLA military aircraft and Chinese coast guard ships mark an alarming uptick in military and paramilitary activities near Taiwan, raising concerns over regional stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan’s government has repeatedly condemned these provocations and called on Beijing to cease such activities, warning that they threaten peace and security across the region.