Chinese Fighter Pilot Sends ‘Airspace’ Warning in Latest Fracas With Taiwan

A Taiwan an Air Force radio operator trying to prevent intrusion People’s Liberation Army the plane was told, “that’s all Chinese airspace “as four military planes buzzed on Taipei’s defense radars on Tuesday.

In a brief exchange between 5:19 p.m. and 5:21 p.m., local time, a radio officer from the Taiwan Air Combat Command said in a standard warning: “This is the Air Force of the Republic of China. The Chinese military plane is currently flying 6,600 meters in southwestern airspace. in Taiwan, you have entered our airspace and are affecting aviation safety. Turn around and leave immediately. “

The answer was partially mixed, but a PLA pilot replied, “This is all Chinese airspace.”

The correspondence took place on the air navigation emergency frequency 121.5 MHz and was recorded using a software-defined radio, according to the moderator of the flight tracking. Facebook page “Southwestern airspace of TW.”

The administrator shared a similar incident last week when a Chinese pilot responding to Taiwan Air Force warnings said about the self-governing island air defense identification area (ADIZ): “This is all ours.“

The moderator of the page, who declined to be named, said Newsweek that the Taiwanese Air Force issued 10 radio warnings to Chinese military aircraft on ADIZ Island on Wednesday. The warnings began at 4:29 a.m. – the earliest of this year’s recordings – and lasted until 1:58 p.m. Taipei time.

Taiwan’s defense ministry later revealed that 15 PLA fighter jets had flown in southwestern ADIZ. The fleet, which arrived at different times, included 12 fighter jets, one anti-submarine aircraft and two early warning and control aircraft.

Taiwan has shuffled its own fighter jets to intercept them, the ministry said on its website.

However, Taipei did not register the movement of the US Navy EP-3, which was reported in the vicinity at the same time as the Chinese military aircraft.

According to Strategic Situation Research Initiative for the South China Sea (SCSPI) – a think tank from the University of Beijing – a US reconnaissance plane transited the Bashi Canal south of Taiwan shortly after 3 a.m. local time before flying in a circular pattern south of the Taiwan Strait.

SCSPI that tracks US military movements in the East and South China Seas described it as a “rare flight in a rare time,” apparently referring to the earlyness of the overflight.

Flight flights on Wednesday at Taiwan’s ADIZ mark the fifth day that similar activity took place in April and the 67th day this year. Along with 10 military planes on Monday, China has flown 29 flights around Taiwan in the past three days.

Analysts say that part of the invasion of PLA fighter jets in ADIZ, which is increasing in frequency and quantity Beijing’s “gray zone” war against Taiwan, which the Chinese government claims is part of its territory.

According to some analyzes, China plans to tax the scarce air force of Taiwan with routine flights, while threatening the island’s population, while others note the political announcements behind every Chinese military operation.

Earlier this year, defense officials in Taipei revealed that the air force was flying 1000 additional hours deterring PLA aircraft around the island, increasing fuel, maintenance and manpower costs.