China Sends 32 Military Aircraft Around Taiwan as Its Coast Guard Patrols Off the East Coast

Ships of Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration in 2019 (file photo). Photo: Mori / Office of the President (中華民國總統府), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry detected 32 sorties by Chinese military aircraft, seven Chinese navy ships and two other official ships around the island in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. Nov. 1 Taipei time, and 26 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said. The sorties entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, and Taiwan said it responded with combat air patrols, navy ships and coastal missile systems.

Key figures: 32 chinese military aircraft sorties in 24 hours · 26 sorties that crossed the taiwan strait median line · 13 times taiwan says it expelled chinese coast guard ships from pratas this year

Activity more than doubles in a day

The count was up from 13 sorties, six of which crossed the median line, in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry’s Oct. 31 report. A day earlier, the ministry reported six sorties and three crossings, its Oct. 30 report showed. The number of Chinese navy ships stayed at seven across all three reports. Our Oct. 31 report on the U.S.-Japan-South Korea talks in Atlanta covered the trilateral meeting and earlier Taiwan activity.

By the numbers

Taiwan’s daily reports show sorties rising from 6 to 13 to 32 over three days, while median-line crossings went from 3 to 6 to 26. About 81% of the latest sorties crossed the line, a TBR calculation, compared with about 46% the day before. The ministry’s reports count sorties, not individual aircraft, and do not say what types flew.

Coast guard patrol off the east coast

Taiwan’s Coast Guard accused China of harassing shipping with its latest coast guard patrol off the island’s east coast and said it sent its own ships to monitor two Chinese vessels, Reuters reported in The Japan Times. Chinese state media showed one of its ships broadcasting a radio message that it was carrying out law enforcement, with footage of an unidentified fishing trawler.

The Taiwan Coast Guard said China’s “attempts to harass ships at sea through radio communications are a clear expansion of power that violate international law.” It added that Taiwan “holds sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the exclusive economic zone east of Taiwan.” China has stepped up coast guard patrols off the east coast since June, and Taiwanese officials say they believe Beijing is practicing for a possible blockade, Reuters reported.

China also sent another coast guard ship close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands on Saturday, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said. It said it had “expelled” Chinese coast guard vessels from Pratas waters 13 times so far this year. The islands lie more than 400 kilometers from Taiwan, roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Speaking in Atlanta after the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Indo-Pacific has “some territorial claims that we do not recognize,” and that the United States will keep operating there with partners, according to a State Department transcript.

Korean Peninsula and Japan

North Korea said it tested a cluster-bomb warhead for tactical ballistic missiles on Saturday, the Korean Central News Agency reported !Unverified claim, KCNA (North Korean state media). South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired toward the Yellow Sea from around Chongju and that it tracked the launch with the United States, Yonhap reported. Rubio said nothing has been scheduled between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to Yonhap.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun used the G20 meeting to explain Seoul’s position on a Sept. 21 land mine blast in the Demilitarized Zone that injured three South Korean soldiers, and called for inter-Korean dialogue, his office said. Seoul blames North Korea, which denies responsibility. Cho also met EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and called for a stronger security partnership in cyber and space, Yonhap reported.

In Okinawa, prefectural police arrested U.S. Marine Cpl. Kalvin Montoya Cardona, 21, of Camp Hansen, on suspicion of drunken driving at about 12:25 a.m. Saturday, during a midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew the U.S. military imposed on Oct. 9, Jiji Press reported in The Japan Times. Police said his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit and that he would also be investigated over a hit-and-run. The curfew followed the arrest of another Marine over the death of a woman in Naha.

Former residents of the Russian-held islands that Japan calls the Northern Territories flew near the islands on a chartered plane Saturday to pay respects to their ancestors, Jiji reported. The flight, attended by 34 people, was held because Japan-Russia exchange programs, including grave visits, have been suspended since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Watch for Taiwan’s next daily count, any Chinese statement on the east coast patrol, and the end of the Okinawa curfew. Today’s trade war report covers the G20 and Quad statements on trade and shipping.

Sources

• Taiwan Ministry of National Defense: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan
• Taiwan Ministry of National Defense: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan (Oct. 31)
• Taiwan Ministry of National Defense: PLA activities in the waters and airspace around Taiwan (Oct. 30)
• The Japan Times: Taiwan says China harassing shipping with east coast patrol
• US Department of State: Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Press Availability
• Yonhap News Agency: (LEAD) N. Korea tests cluster bomb mountable on tactical ballistic missiles
• Yonhap News Agency: (LEAD) Trump open to talks with N. Korean leader but no meeting scheduled: Rubio
• Yonhap News Agency: FM outlines S. Korea's position on DMZ mine blast at G20, calls for inter-Korean talks
• Yonhap News Agency: FM Cho holds talks with EU, Britain, others at G20 meeting
• The Japan Times: U.S. Marine arrested in Okinawa for driving under influence
• The Japan Times: Former island residents fly near Northern Territories for memorial

Additional sources

• The Japan Times: Quad foreign ministers on economic security
• South China Morning Post: Beijing ramps up maritime patrols around Taiwan