42 Chinese Warplanes, 8 Vessels Sent Toward Taiwan After Tsai’s US Meeting

Aircraft of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct joint combat training exercises around Taiwan on Aug. 7, 2022. Li Bingyu/Xinhua via AP

China reportedly sent 42 warplanes and eight naval vessels toward Taiwan on April 8 in response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on April 5 in California.

Taiwan’s military detected the Chinese aircraft and ships at about 11 a.m. (local time), with 29 aircraft spotted crossing the “northern, central, southern median line of the Taiwan Strait,” according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.

The ministry stated that the 29 aircraft “attempted coercion on us” by flying into Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), an area where foreign aircraft are identified before entering a country’s territorial airspace.

“We condemn such an irrational act that has jeopardized regional security and stability,” the ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Earlier in the day, Taiwan detected 13 Chinese warplanes and three vessels near the island at 6 a.m. (local time), with four aircraft spotted crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ.

Taiwan responded by activating aircraft, navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to monitor the Chinese military’s activities.

CCP Gives ‘Serious Warning’ With Fresh Drills

Beijing’s actions came as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military announced on April 8 that it was beginning three days of combat readiness patrols and “Joint Sword” exercises around Taiwan, involving police patrols.

The drills will be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and “to the northern and southern parts of Taiwan, and the airspace to the east of Taiwan as planned” from April 8 to April 10, Senior Col. Shi Yi, spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement.

“This is a serious warning against the Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces to provoke, and a necessary action to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Shi said.

The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command—the CCP’s armed wing—stated that the drills will focus on its “ability to seize sea control, air control, and information control under the support of the joint combat system.”

Speaker of the U.S. House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) greets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on arrival at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library for a bipartisan meeting in Simi Valley, Calif., on April 5, 2023. The historic meeting occurring on U.S. soil has been greeted by threats of retaliation by Beijing. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Beijing launched the drills just a day after Tsai returned from a 10-day visit to Central America with stopovers in the United States, where she met with McCarthy.

The CCP had strongly opposed any form of official interaction and contact between U.S. and Taiwanese officials and threatened to take “resolute countermeasures” if Tsai and McCarthy met.

However, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry accused the CCP of using Tsai’s visit to the United States as an excuse to conduct military exercises that “seriously damaged regional peace, stability, and security.”

The ministry stated that it would respond to the drills in “a calm, rational, and serious manner” to defend its sovereignty and national security without seeking to escalate conflicts or cause disputes.

Beijing staged war games around Taiwan following then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) visit to Taiwan in August 2022 and restricted military-to-military communication with the Pentagon.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel had clarified that transits by high-level Taiwan authorities in the United States aren’t visits, but rather “private and unofficial.”

“Every Taiwan president has transited the United States. President Tsai has transited the U.S. six times since taking office in 2016. This will be her seventh transit,” Patel told reporters on March 29.

Taiwan Rejects CCP’s Ship Inspection

Beijing also began a three-day joint patrol and inspection of ships in waters surrounding the self-governing island following Tsai’s stops in the United States, which Taiwan’s government has rejected.

China’s Fujian maritime safety authority said the operation included “on-site inspections” on direct cargo ships and construction vessels in the Taiwan Strait “to ensure the safety of vessel navigation and ensure the safe and orderly operation of key projects on water.”

The Taiwanese Maritime and Port Bureau has filed a strong protest with the regime in Beijing regarding the move, calling on shipping companies to refuse such inspections and notify Taiwanese coast guards if they require assistance.

“It will create obstacles to the normal exchanges between the two sides of the strait, and we will be forced to take corresponding measures,” the bureau said in an April 6 statement.

“As a result, the mainland side must bear the responsibility for subsequent derivatives, which is not what the two sides like.”

The CCP views Taiwan as part of its territory that must be united with China by any means necessary.

Andrew Thornebrooke and Reuters contributed to this report.