Taiwan-China Exercises Update
This will be a quickie.
Looks like I jumped the gun on the China Exercises being over.
The latest news
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked 66 Chinese warplanes and 14 warships around Taiwan as of 5 p.m. on Sunday (Aug. 7).
Of the 66 People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft, 12 crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, including eight Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and four Shenyang J-11 fighter planes. Meanwhile, six Shenyang J-16 fighter planes, three Xian H-6 bombers, and one Shaanxi Y-8 anti-submarine warfare plane entered the southwest corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), per the MND.
In response, Taiwan scrambled combat patrol aircraft, broadcast radio warnings, and deployed missile defense systems to track the Chinese military aircraft and warships.
China had originally announced it would be carrying out four days of live-fire drills in six maritime zones from Aug. 4-7 as retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.
However, on Sunday, Chinese state-run media claimed that from now on it will conduct “regular” drills east of the Taiwan Strait median line, Reuters reported.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4619317
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Taiwanese Army is scheduled to carry out live-fire artillery drills in southern Taiwan on Tuesday (Aug. 9) and Thursday (Aug. 11) to assess combat readiness.
The drills will take place at the Fenggang training grounds in Pingtung County, according to CNA. The Army’s 43rd Artillery Command, 333rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the defense commands in Taitung and Hualien, and the Coast Guard will take part in the exercises.
The exercises will include 78 155mm self-propelled howitzers and six 120mm mortars, the report said.
The military is also set to carry out another set of drills in Pingtung on Sept. 5, involving snipers from different battalions, combat vehicles, Clouded Leopard armored vehicles, and mortars. AH-64 Apache attack choppers and AH-1W Super Cobra will also participate in the drills.
The Pingtung drills come after China just completed four days of live-fire drills from Aug. 4-7 in six large swaths of waters located around Taiwan, which included Chinese missiles launched over Taipei and People’s Liberation Army warplanes and warships in and around the country’s air defense identification zone. Beijing launched the unprecedented show of force in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4619539
Oopsie
8/8
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China's military on Monday (Aug. 8) announced that it will extend military exercises by sea and air around Taiwan, prompting Taiwan's defense ministry to vow that it "will not back down" to such pressure tactics.
Sunday (Aug. 7) was supposed to be the last day of military exercises and live-fire drills that started on Aug. 4, allegedly in response to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 20-hour visit to Taiwan earlier in the week. However, on Monday (Aug. 8), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said that it will extend the exercises further.
That day, the Eastern Theater Command released a statement in which it said that it will continue to conduct scenario-based joint exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan. It added that the drills will focus on organizing joint "anti-submarine and sea assault operations."
In addition, the China Maritime Safety Administration said there will be live-fire drills held in the South China Sea and the waters to the east of the three islands off of Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province from Aug. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Aug. 8 and 9.
At a Ministry of National Defense (MND) press conference, Lieutenant General Yeh Gou-huei (葉國輝) responded by saying that China's exercises are designed to "confine our training space and our reaction time." Therefore, "The armed forces will not back down, and we will be more active in dealing with it."
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4619596
China’s military exercises in Bohai Bay and areas south of the Yellow Sea would not disrupt international flight routes to and from Taiwan as they would not fall within the Taipei Flight Information Region, the ministry said.
However, the Maritime and Port Bureau has warned Yang Ming Marine Transport, Evergreen Marine Corp and Wan Hai Lines to avoid sending their container ships through these areas for safety reasons, it said.
The nation’s flight and shipping services have gradually resumed normal operations after all seven temporary danger zones China unilaterally declared last week expired yesterday.
Six of the zones expired at 12pm on Sunday, while the last danger zone expired at 10am yesterday, the ministry said.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) and Maritime and Port Bureau would continue to guide aircraft and sea vessels to bypass the temporary danger zones to ensure their safety, the ministry said, adding that inbound, outbound and transit flights must avoid the seven temporary danger areas and operate on alternative routes.
On Sunday, the nation had 138 outbound flights, 145 inbound flights and 147 transit flights, CAA data showed.
From Thursday to Sunday, Taiwan had about 150 inbound flights and the same number of outbound flights daily, the ministry said, adding that China’s military drills did not lead to a drastic reduction in arriving or departing flights.
Transit flights gradually resumed after six of the seven temporary danger zones expired, it said, adding that air traffic control offices across the nation would carefully monitor the situation to ensure flight safety.
In terms of shipping services, China’s military drills mainly affected the vessels accessing the Port of Keelung, the Port of Taipei and the Port of Kaohsiung, the ministry said.
Vessels entering and leaving these ports must avoid entering the temporary danger zones, it said.
Maritime and Port Bureau data showed that seven international commercial ports around Taiwan on Sunday recorded 118 inbound and 120 outbound ships, which was not much different from the previous three days, the ministry said.
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/08/09/2003783229
I really hate articles like this that give numbers without context (how many in the week or month before the drill). This is usually due to they are trying to conceal something
However, according to this
https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/8-major-ports-of-taiwan/
Kaohsiung port alone handles 5000 ships per year and Taiwan ports collectively deal with over 15,000 per year. 120 in/out total per day cones out to 4000 per year. Maybe there is some seasonality that explains the low number or maybe its the drills. I don’t know
In 2021 there were almost 100,000 aircraft movements out of Taoyuan International Airport (not including Songshan and Kaoshiung) so thats about 135 arrivals or departures a day. Assuming Kaoshiung and Songshan are only a fraction of that aircraft in/out of Taiwan has not been affected much (just got an Amazon package in record time via regular delivery)
