In a first, two Chinese drones have flown around Taiwan's main island as part of Beijing's efforts to normalize its increasing military activity near the country.
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00:00Taiwan's military says three dozen Chinese warplanes were spotted operating around the
00:05country on Saturday.
00:07The defense ministry said 36 military aircraft and 12 warships were spotted around Taiwan.
00:1331 of those aircraft breached the country's Air Defense Identification Zone, or ADIZ,
00:19which is used by the military to protect the country but does not belong to Taiwan.
00:24Two military drones were also spotted circumnavigating the main island, marking the first time Taiwan
00:29has seen multiple encirclements.
00:33Increasing Chinese military activity around Taiwan is thought to be part of Beijing's
00:38strategy to normalize its presence around the country.
00:41To find out more, Jaime O'Connor spoke to Ben Lewis, co-founder of PLA Tracker.
00:48Taiwan's defense ministry posted a report of Chinese military activity and we're seeing
00:52two Chinese military drones circumnavigating or flying around Taiwan's main island.
00:59Why is that significant?
01:00This is a first for the PLA, at least confirmed on the record, to sending two UAVs to circumnavigate
01:07Taiwan.
01:08This would be the fifth and sixth circumnavigation total since last year, but this is notable
01:13because it represents, I think, a common trend in PLA activity, which is they're extending
01:19the scope of their activities.
01:21Before we would see a lot of stuff over the median line in the southwest, especially of
01:25But now the PLA is operating consistently on the east side of Taiwan and these circumnavigation
01:30flights seem to be a core component of that.
01:33So they're likely conducting reconnaissance drills, looking at potential targets in the
01:38east side of Taiwan, looking at probably Hualien, the air base there.
01:42So it's very notable.
01:43And for the past couple of years, China has been trying to normalize this increased level
01:48of military activity around Taiwan.
01:50How are those normalization efforts going?
01:53The normalization has been wildly successful on Beijing's part.
01:57So just as an example, in 2021, in July, there were 17 aircraft tracked in the ADIZ, in 2022,
02:06there were 70, in 2023, 163, and last month, 437.
02:11So the line is straight up.
02:15And post-Pelosi, I mean, we saw the erasure of the median line, that's been consistent.
02:19That's not even something really to blink at anymore when aircraft cross the median
02:23line.
02:24But especially in the last few months, we've seen the PLA, you know, execute an intensity
02:30of operations that is really unparalleled, even compared to the Pelosi visit.
02:34So Pelosi, during the month of August, we had the largest exercises ever.
02:38We had 446 aircraft.
02:40Last month, there were no major exercises and we had 437.
02:44So the baseline has continued to increase.
02:47And what that does is it puts a significant strain on Taiwan's armed forces.
02:51They have to respond when there are large scale maneuvers like this, because they don't
02:55know what the PLA is going to do.
02:57And ahead of the US elections in November, are we going to see steady increases of Chinese
03:02fighter jets and warships around Taiwan to put pressure on the United States?
03:06I think it's difficult to say.
03:08For one, the existing pattern of Beijing sending large numbers of aircraft into the ADIZ in
03:13response to political events has kind of been broken in recent months.
03:17I think mostly because of the sheer quantity of overseas visits.
03:22You mentioned IPAC a few days ago.
03:24Doesn't seem like there's a clear correlation from that to this large scale violation today.
03:29But going into November, obviously, like you mentioned, China is watching the US elections
03:33very carefully.
03:35China is a hot button issue for the foreign policy discussion for both parties.
03:39So I think there's a potential we'll see the numbers increase.
03:43Obviously, weather is going to play a role.
03:45But I think, you know, as if there are future debates between the candidates or statements
03:49are made about Taiwan or China, China could react to that.