On March 14, a Mirage-2000 fighter jet with No. 2017 belonging to the 2nd Wing of the Hsinchu Base of the Taiwan Air Force crashed at 11:26 a.m. 10 nautical miles off the coast of Chihpen, Taitung.
48 hours after the crash, on the evening of March 16, the Taiwan military released “real-time military updates”. On the 16th, a PLA Yun-8 electronic reconnaissance aircraft entered the so-called “Southwest Air Defense Identification Zone” from the airspace south of the central line of the Taiwan Strait. After that, it flew all the way into the Bashi Strait, the Western Pacific Ocean, and bypassed the entire southern airspace of Taiwan. As usual, the Taiwan Air Force dispatched air patrols, broadcast expulsion, and anti-aircraft missile tracking measures to deal with our military aircraft.
According to the news released by the Taiwan military, after entering the southwest corner of Taiwan’s so-called “air defense identification zone”, the Y-8 electronic reconnaissance plane flew all the way towards the Bashi Strait, then detoured to the southeast corner of Taiwan’s “air defense identification zone”, and then followed the original path. Return home, 4 in and 4 out in the so-called “air defense identification zone”.
According to the broadcast and track records, Taiwan media speculated that the Yun-8 electronic reconnaissance plane entered the airspace near Taiwan twice at 11:29 and 12:31, at an altitude of 6,300 meters. Attention PLA military aircraft at an altitude of 6,300 meters in the airspace southwest of Taiwan! You have entered the relevant airspace, affecting my flight safety, so turn around and leave immediately!”
According to the fan page of “Taiwan Southwest Airspace”, PLA military planes entered the airspace near Taiwan for 13 days this month, and a total of 35 times of broadcast evictions were recorded this month. In 2022, it entered the airspace near Taiwan for a total of 56 days, with a total of 190 broadcast expulsions. The Taiwan Army announced that in 2022, the People’s Liberation Army will enter the airspace near Taiwan for a total of 50 days.
Earlier, in eastern Taiwan, a Taiwanese Mirage-2000 fighter plane crashed. On March 14, a Mirage-2000 fighter jet with the number 2017 belonging to the 2nd Wing of the Hsinchu Base of the Taiwan Air Force crashed 10 nautical miles off the coast of Chihpen, Taitung at 11:26 a.m. The pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Huang Chongkai, was rescued after parachuting. After the fighter plane crashed, the Taiwan Air Force ordered all Mirage-2000 fighter jets to be grounded for “Tianan Special Inspection”.
Regarding the PLA’s military operations around the Taiwan Strait, Colonel Tan Kefei, deputy director of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, previously stated that since 2021, the PLA has regularly organized bombers, reconnaissance planes, fighter planes, etc. The multi-army forces have organized joint combat readiness patrols around Taiwan Island, and regularly organize joint naval assaults, joint land strikes, and joint air defense operations in the sea and air space near Taiwan Island. The number will only be more, not less, and the goal is very clear, that is, to take decisive action to counteract the frequent collusion of forces inside and outside the island and to challenge the one-China principle, resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and earnestly safeguard the common well-being of compatriots on both sides of the strait and the Taiwan Strait. Peace and stability.