Taiwan Tracks 21 PLA Sorties as Quad Opens Malabar Off Tokyo

Ships from the U.S., India, Japan and Australia during Exercise Malabar 2012 (file photo). Photo: Official Navy Page from United States of America

MC2 James R. Evans/U.S. Navy, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it detected 21 Chinese military aircraft sorties and 16 ships around the island in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Nov. 5 Taiwan time, as the United States, Japan, Australia and India opened the Malabar naval exercise in waters off Tokyo. Taiwan’s defense minister said U.S. congressional support for the island’s arms buildup remains bipartisan after the midterms.

Key figures: 21 PLA aircraft sorties around Taiwan in 24 hours · 19 of those sorties that crossed the taiwan strait median line · 16 chinese ships (8 plan, 8 official) tracked around taiwan

According to the Ministry of National Defense, from 6 a.m. Nov. 4 to 6 a.m. Nov. 5 (UTC+8) forces tracked 21 PLA aircraft sorties and 16 ships — 8 People’s Liberation Army Navy and 8 official ships — operating around Taiwan. Nineteen of the 21 sorties crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zone. ROC forces answered with combat air patrols, navy ships and coastal missile systems. The sortie total is one below the 22 reported for the prior day in yesterday’s North Korea missiles and Taiwan PLA report.

Malabar opens at Yokosuka

The Quad partners began Malabar in waters off the Kanto region on Thursday, with training through Nov. 12 on responses to submarines and surface fleets, Kyodo News reported, citing Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force. Vice Adm. Katsushi Omachi, commander of Japan’s Self-Defense Fleet, said at an opening ceremony aboard helicopter carrier Ise at Yokosuka that the Indo-Pacific security environment is “becoming increasingly complex” and that “cooperation with like-minded countries is more important than ever.” Participating vessels include Japan’s Mogami frigate, a U.S. amphibious transport dock and frigates from India and Australia, the MSDF said.

Koo on bipartisan U.S. arms support

Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters in Taipei that “The U.S. Congress has consistently supported — on a bipartisan basis — Taiwan’s efforts to beef up its defense capabilities,” answering a question about Republican losses in the Nov. 3 midterms, Focus Taiwan reported. He said the ministry would keep engaging Congress and staying in close contact with the U.S. Department of War to help keep arms sales on schedule. Democrats won majorities in both chambers on Nov. 3.

Beijing’s North Korea channel and Manila dialogue

The Korea Times reported that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met visiting North Korean party secretary Kim Song Nam in Beijing on Thursday. Wang said Beijing would implement understandings from Xi Jinping’s June visit to Pyongyang, and Kim called that visit a milestone, the paper said. The meeting comes amid public speculation about possible leader-level contacts around APEC in Shenzhen on Nov. 18–19.

On the South China Sea track, NHK reported that after Tuesday’s call between Wang and Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro, both sides agreed to maintain diplomatic dialogue and manage differences. Lazaro wrote that both sides stressed dialogue “anchored on mutual respect.” A TaiwanPlus newscast on Nov. 5 separately flagged Taipei urging Beijing to respect Asia-Pacific summit protocol ahead of the Shenzhen meetings.

No new U.S. Indo-Pacific strike release appeared on the war.gov news feed in the coverage window, and U.S. Pacific Command’s HTML news page returned an error on one attempt. Related same-day Middle East and Ukraine developments are in today’s Hormuz vessel-fires report and today’s Ukraine drones and Komyshuvakha update.

By the numbers

Taiwan’s official count shows median-line pressure remaining high even as the raw sortie total eased by one from the prior day. By TBR calculations from the Ministry of National Defense figures, about 90% of tracked flights (19 of 21) crossed the median line, and ships outnumbered aircraft sorties when the 16 vessels are compared with the 21 flights on a one-to-one basis — a reminder that the daily board mixes air and sea presence rather than a single engagement score.

Watch for the next Taiwan MND 24-hour board, Malabar serials through Nov. 12, any Chinese reaction to the exercise, and whether APEC protocol disputes escalate before Shenzhen on Nov. 18–19.

Sources

• Ministry of National Defense: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
• Kyodo News: Quad nations begin joint naval exercise amid China's growing assertiveness
• Focus Taiwan: U.S. support for Taiwan defense remains bipartisan: Defense Minister
• The Korea Times: China's top diplomat meets visiting NK party secretary
• NHK World: China and Philippines agree to maintain dialogue
• TaiwanPlus: Taipei Accuses Beijing of APEC Protocol Breach – Nov. 5, 2026