During Pelosi’s visit, 21 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone

• 21 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone on Tuesday.
• 10 of China’s new J-16 fighter jets are among other fighter jets at the event.
• The warplanes flew over the corner of the ADIZ the day Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei.

Twenty-one Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone on Tuesday, the day House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taipei, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.

People’s Liberation Army Air Force aircraft – including ten new J-16 fighters, eight J-11 fighter jets, one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, one Y-9 electronic warfare aircraft and one Y-8 transport aircraft – to Taiwan entered the air defense zone.

The Shenyang J-16 is an advanced fourth-generation fighter based on the Russian Sukhoi-30 fighter jet. The twin-jet, tandem-assembly fighter carries a 30 mm cannon, 12 air-to-air missiles, rockets and satellite-guided bombs, and anti-ship and anti-radiation missiles. China-based military analysts previously told the South China Morning Post that the jet was definitely designed for an attack on Taiwan.

According to flight maps posted on Twitter by Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, the plane flew in the southwest direction of the ADIZ. On Monday, four J-16s flew over the dividing line in the Taiwan Strait. According to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, surveillance aircraft were dispatched to respond, radio warnings were issued, and air and missile defense systems were monitoring the situation.

-Ministry of National Defense, ROC 🇹🇼 (@MoNDfense) August 2, 2022

The warplanes entered the ADIZ on the same day that Pelosi visited Taiwan for a historic visit. She is the most senior US official to visit the self-governing island democracy in 25 years.

Before her visit, China, which has maintained that Taiwan is an inalienable territory of China, has repeatedly warned that it will take some form of military action if it visits the island, saying the People’s Liberation Army “will not sit idly by.”

After arriving on Tuesday night, China announced in response that the PLA would carry out “targeted military operations” around the island. China’s military will hold live-fire drills in six locations around Taiwan from Aug. 4 to 7, state-run Xinhua News Agency and state-affiliated Global Times reported.

Chinese media reported that the drills, which began Tuesday night, included not only air and sea exercises, but also conventional missile and long-range artillery fire.