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What to Know About the Falloff in China’s Military Flights Around Taiwan
Chinese military flights near Taiwan dropped to seven in two weeks, down from 92 last year, possibly to ease tensions before U.S. President Trump's visit, analysts say.
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San Gabriel Valley TribuneWhat to know about the falloff in China’s military flights around Taiwan
China has sharply reduced its warplane flights near Taiwan and analysts aren't sure why. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported a seven-day stretch with no Chinese aircraft in its air defense zone.
It's very unusual for the situation around the island.
Taiwan's military forces have become accustomed to the daily task of tracking Chinese war planes flying near the island. Some days there are a few. Others, many more. But their presence is almost constant. So when the fighters suddenly stopped flying for almost two weeks, the silence was at the same time surprising and deeply disconcerting. That spell broke on Thursday when five People's Liberation Army (PLA) planes operated around the Taiwan St…
For nearly two weeks, there were virtually no Chinese military aircraft overflights in the Taiwan area. According to CNN, this was the longest pause in such activity since Taiwanese authorities began regularly publishing data on military activity near the island.
Analysts are considering the reasons for the unusual change. China's actions are puzzling Taiwan, The New York Times reports. The island nation is used to Chinese military aircraft flying near it every day. Now the flights have stopped. Over the past couple of weeks, Chinese aircraft have only been spotted on one day. The information is based on daily statistics from Taiwan's Ministry of Defense.
On the 11th, the Ministry of National Defense detected five PLA aircraft, three of which crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and entered the northern and southwestern airspace. This is the first time in 13 days since February 27 that PLA aircraft have been detected crossing the Taiwan Strait median line, and it is also the longest period without detecting PLA military aircraft in recent years.
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