Record PLA drill ‘ warns Taiwan secessionists, US carrier activity’

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army ( PLA) reportedly dispatched on Tuesday a record- breaking fleet of warplanes to conduct an exercise surrounding the island of Taiwan, with analysts saying on Wednesday that the drill indicated a stronger control over the Taiwan Straits by the PLA, and sent a clear signal to the Taiwan secessionists and their Western supporters following recent provocations, as well as to the activity by a US aircraft carrier near the region.

A total of 28 PLA aircraft, namely 14 J- 16 fighter jets, 6 J- 11 fighter jets, four H- 6 bombers, two KJ- 500 early warning aircraft, a Y- 8 electronic warfare aircraft and a Y- 8 anti- submarine warfare aircraft, entered the island of Taiwan’s self- proclaimed southwestern air defense identification zone on Tuesday, with some flying through the Bashi Channel to the eastern side of the island, media on the island reported on the same day, citing the island’s defense authorities.

This marked the largest number of aircraft in a single day in the PLA’s routine exercise in the region since the island started to track and publish similar PLA activities in September 2020, the reports said.

The expanded exercise indicates the PLA’s enhanced combat capability, as the PLA has gained greater control over the Taiwan Straits, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing- based military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Some reports linked the PLA exercise to the G7 summit, which ended on Sunday and issued a communiqué extending support to the secessionists in the island of Taiwan. The exercise is also the first large- scale one following the recent US provocation of sending a military transport aircraft to Taiwan.

Wei said that Taiwan secessionists are eager to interact with the US to gain a sense of security, but the US is giving them only a rubber check to take advantage of them to provoke and contain the Chinese mainland.

On Monday, the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group of the US Navy sailed through the Bashi Channel and entered the South China Sea, according to the monitoring conducted by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing- based think tank.

The US aircraft carrier is flexing its muscle and provocatively creating instability near China, Wei said, noting that the PLA exercise near Taiwan, which came only one day after and was very close to the course of the US carrier group, could be seen as a response that demonstrates the PLA’s capabilities.