[Global Times Comprehensive Report] The People's Liberation Army fighter planes have been frequently operating in the airspace around the Taiwan Strait in the past few days. Even on New Year's Eve, they did not stop safeguarding the country's territorial sovereignty.

Taiwan media said that from December 31 last year to the early morning of January 1 this year, PLA military aircraft approached "unprecedentedly".

　　On the 2nd, the military channel of China Central Television broadcast a video, claiming that J-20, J-16 and other fighter jets at a base of the People's Liberation Army Air Force conducted over-the-horizon air combat training at 2 a.m.

This has attracted great attention from the Taiwanese media.

In the past few days, PLA fighter planes have continued to operate around the Taiwan Strait.

According to a report from Taiwan's United News Network on the 2nd, Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" statistics show that from 6:00 am on December 30, 2022 to 6:00 am on December 31, 2022, 9 sorties of PLA military aircraft and 3 warships were detected, including 1 sortie. BZK-007 unmanned aerial vehicle and 1 sortie of Yun-8 anti-submarine aircraft entered Taiwan's "Southwest Air Defense Identification Zone".

From 6:00 am on December 31, 2022 to 6:00 am on January 1, 2023, 24 PLA military aircraft and 4 warships were detected. 15 sorties.

Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" also announced the "Communist People's Liberation Army's entry into the airspace around the Taiwan Strait." It shows that two batches of J-10 fighters and J-16 fighters crossed the so-called "central line of the strait" in the airspace off Taoyuan and Hsinchu in the northern part of Taiwan Island.

　　Taiwan's "United Daily News" stated on the 2nd that Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" has previously announced the proportion of icon specifications, showing that no PLA military aircraft has ever penetrated so deep into the east of the "central line of the strait", and it is suspected that it is approaching the airspace adjacent to the 24 nautical miles off the Taozhu Sea. The J-11 fighter plane crossed the "central line" in the airspace off the Tamsui Estuary.

In addition, there are J-10 fighter jets, BZK-005 UAVs, Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft and BZK-007 UAVs entering the airspace southwest of Taiwan from the southern extension of the "Central Line".

Sanzhi "Tiangong" missiles and "Patriot" missile bases in Linhai in northern Taiwan sounded the "red dot" target warning on the same day, and each implemented combat preparations. The Taiwan Air Force urgently called in air fighters to intercept them.

　　For the PLA to go so deep, Taiwanese military scholar Jie Zhong said that PLA military planes are suspected to have passed through one of the no-fly zones R9 and R11 set up by the Taiwan Air Force in the northern airspace.

He said that the Taiwan authorities have set up four training no-flight zones on the east side of the strait, which is an important support for the tacit understanding of the so-called "central line of the strait". , I am afraid that it will increase the possibility that the military on both sides of the strait will misfire.

Zhang Yanting, former deputy commander of the Taiwan Air Force, said that PLA military aircraft gradually penetrated east of the "central line of the strait" and conducted training in the airspace near Taiwan.

He said that the northern part of Taiwan's military includes Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, and Yilan, with a population of more than 10 million, but its air defense is "bombed and inorganic". Although air defense missiles are deployed, there is no airport where fighter jets can take off and land; Hsinchu Airport, which is the closest to the "hub", takes at least 10 minutes to take off. Facing the People's Liberation Army military plane that can reach Hsinchu in 7 minutes, it may be too late to actively intercept it.

Shu Xiaohuang, a Taiwan military scholar, said that PLA military planes passed through an important area of ​​Taiwan's air defense during the New Year's Eve, and it is also an important defense area close to the Taipei circle.

　　On December 29, 2022, an independent defense analyst named "Damien Simmons" tweeted that he had made a map of the total number of PLA Air Force flights in Taiwan's airspace and its trajectory in 2022.

It can be seen from the picture that the densely packed red track map covers the southwest airspace, eastern airspace and the so-called "strait center line". Among them, the southwest airspace is the most, and some flight paths even extend to the eastern airspace.

He mentioned that in August 2022, the People's Liberation Army military planes circled Taiwan, accounting for the largest number of rounds in the year, with more than 400 sorties.

The pro-green "Freedom Times" stated on the 2nd that Taiwan's "Ministry of National Defense" announced that last year, the People's Liberation Army military aircraft entered Taiwan's airspace for a total of 268 days, 1733 sorties, and 27 types.

In contrast, about 960 sorties will enter Taiwan's "Air Defense Identification Zone" in 2021 and 380 in 2020.

2022 will also be the first time that the PLA will send drones around Taiwan.

Taiwanese military analysts said that the People's Liberation Army used operations around Taiwan to probe Taiwan's defense system and consume the aging Taiwan Air Force.

Taiwan's "Central News Agency" concluded on the 2nd that the People's Liberation Army has been adhering to the principle of "destroying three lines" ("strait center line", "territorial sea line" and energy lifeline) and "building three areas" (closed control area, no-fly and no-fly area, normalized warfare) in recent years. patrol area) in principle, bypass Taiwan.

(Zhang Ruo)

　　(Global Times)