TAIPEI - A surge of Chinese military aircraft was detected around Taiwan during a three-hour window on April 20, a month before Taiwan’s May 20 inauguration of incoming president Lai Ching-te.

Tensions between both sides of the narrow 180km Taiwan Strait have ramped up since January, when Vice-President Lai – regarded as a “dangerous separatist” by Beijing – was elected as the island’s incoming leader.

Experts also said military drills between the United States and the Philippines that kick off on April 22 near the potential flashpoint of the South China Sea – which Beijing claims in its entirety – could have sparked the show of force around Taiwan.

Taipei’s Defence Ministry said since 8.15am it had detected 21 Chinese aircraft around Taiwan, including J-16 fighter jets, Y-8 medium-range transport planes and drones.

“Seventeen aircraft (of the 21) crossed the median line and its extension, entered our northern, central, and south-western (air defence identification zone), and joined PLA vessels for joint combat patrol,” it said in a statement posted on X around 11.30am.

Taiwan’s armed forces “are monitoring the activities with our joint surveillance systems, and have dispatched appropriate assets to respond accordingly”.

Beijing does not recognise the line, as it claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory. It has also never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

China sends warplanes and naval vessels around Taiwan on a near daily basis – a move experts say is a form of “grey-zone harassment”, stopping short of an outright act of war but enough to exhaust Taipei’s armed forces.

The highest number of aerial objects detected around Taiwan so far in 2024 was in March, when the ministry said 36 Chinese aircraft were detected in a single 24-hour period.

The 2023 record was in September, when Beijing’s military sent 103 aircraft – 40 of which crossed the median line – in a 24-hour period.

Upcoming inauguration

The April 20 show of force comes a day after China activated two aviation routes that run close to Taiwan’s outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu.

Taipei’s Civil Aviation Administration expressed “solemn protest against China’s unilateral measures without consultation” on April 19.

The new routes make the airspace separation between the two sides “very narrow”, it said, increasing flight safety risks during bad weather or abnormal flight operations.

China’s aviation authority also said on April 19 the airspace around Fuzhou Changle Airport – 30km from the closest outlying Taiwanese island – would be “further optimised and adjusted” on May 16, four days before the inauguration.

Political analyst Sung Wen-ti said China “may be trying to show teeth to back up” the expansion of the new flight path.

But he added that “China is playing on a grand chessboard”, and the ramp-up in warplane activity could be about the South China Sea issue.

Under the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, tensions between Beijing and Taipei have ramped up, as she and her government do not acknowledge China’s claim.

On April 22, the US and the Philippines will begin joint maritime exercises that will be held beyond Philippine territorial waters for the first time, “edging ever closer towards Taiwan Strait”, said Mr Sung.

The exercises will simulate retaking enemy-occupied islands in areas facing Taiwan and the South China Sea.

“By amping up military theatre near Taiwan, Beijing may seek to deter and dissuade further internationalisation of the Taiwan issue in the security realm,” he added.

Conflict expert Ou Sifu of Taiwan’s Institute for National Defence and Security Research agreed that the activities on April 20 were to send Beijing’s message beyond Taiwan.

This “political warfare will continue until May 20 and beyond”, he said. AFP