After a notable two-week decline, Taiwan reported a significant increase in Chinese military aircraft activity near the island.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said Sunday it detected 26 Chinese military aircraft around the island on Saturday, with 16 entering its northern, central and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone. Seven Chinese naval ships were also spotted in the surrounding waters, the ministry added.
The surge in flights follows a period that had puzzled analysts. Taiwan did not report any Chinese military planes beyond the median line — which separates the two sides — for a week from February 27 to March 5. After two were detected on March 6, the next four days had none. Such flights then resumed in small numbers between Wednesday and Friday before Saturday’s larger formation.
The decline coincided with the annual meeting of China’s legislature, a major political event in Beijing. While Chinese military flights have occasionally decreased during past major events and public holidays, this year’s fall was more pronounced than in previous years, according to the report.
Analysts offered possible explanations for the fluctuation. Some suggested the decline may have been an effort to calm tensions with Washington ahead of a planned visit by U.S. President Donald Trump to China from March 31 to April 2 — a trip Beijing has not yet officially confirmed. Others pointed to a potential shift in China’s military training and modernization, with the army possibly exploring a new model for joint training between its forces.
China has vowed to seize Taiwan, by force if necessary, and has maintained a near-daily presence of warplanes and navy vessels near the island in recent years. Taiwan’s military, however, signaled it was not altering its defense posture in response to the temporary falloff in Chinese warplane activity.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo noted that while military flights had decreased, China’s navy had remained active in nearby waters, indicating a continued maritime presence around Taiwan.
The two sides have been governed separately since 1949, when the Communist Party took power in Beijing following a civil war and defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan. The island later transitioned from martial law to a multiparty democracy.