Taiwan Scrambles Fighter Jets After China Launches Second Joint Combat Readiness Patrol

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets and warships to monitor and deter increased Chinese military activity around the island after Beijing launched its second “joint combat readiness patrol” in a week, according to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

“Taiwan has said it is monitoring the second Chinese “joint combat readiness patrol” near the island in a week, accusing Beijing of being the sole source of instability in the Asia Pacific”

Al Jazeera

The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of China said it detected “29 sorties of PLA (People’s Liberation Army) aircraft, 7 PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) vessels and 1 official ship operating around Taiwan detected up until 6 a.m.”

Al Jazeera

Taipei’s National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu said China deployed more than 100 ships along the First Island Chain on Saturday, and the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense published images of the “joint combat readiness patrol” on its official website.

The BBC reported that late Saturday a “four-storey” factory fire killed dozens of garment workers outside Dhaka, but Reuters and Al Jazeera focused on the Narayanganj garment factory fire rather than the Taiwan patrol described in the Taiwan-focused sources.

National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu said the Chinese activity was “unprovoked” and wrote on X that “The PRC is the sole source of instability in the Indo-Pacific.”

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said late on Monday it detected 21 Chinese aircraft, including J-16 fighters and drones, operating around the island as part of a “joint combat readiness patrol,” and Taipei dispatched fighter jets and warships to monitor the movements.

Areion24.news

Institute for National Defence and Security Research Defense Strategy and Resources Division Director Su Tzu-yun said Chinese warships equipped with cruise missiles are being deployed as close as 24 nautical miles from Taiwan’s shores and that ship-launched, sea-skimming missiles could hit targets just three minutes after being launched.

The BBC also quoted Labour Minister Tahmina Akhter saying the government would launch an immediate investigation and “We will hold the owners fully accountable,” but that statement concerned the Narayanganj factory fire rather than Taiwan’s military alert.

Taiwan said its coast guard faced off with a Chinese coast guard ship near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands over the weekend, and the island’s government remained on high alert for further People’s Republic of China actions after Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing earlier this month.

“Taiwan sent ships and fighter jets to monitor the second Chinese "joint combat readiness patrol" in a week near the island, in what a senior Taiwanese security official said showed China was the sole source of instability in the region”

Baird Maritime

The Read Lion account said the U.S. military announced it was postponing an arms sale to Taiwan because of supply constraints caused by Operation Epic Fury, and Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said during a Senate subcommittee hearing that the pause was to ensure munitions for Epic Fury.

In Taipei, Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence Pan Chun-kuang said Taiwan continued to track the movements of the Liaoning operating in the western Pacific, after China carried out a similar “readiness patrol” last Tuesday.

While the Taiwan-focused sources described ongoing monitoring and heightened alert, the Narayanganj fire coverage in the BBC said a Reuters team counted at least 28 bodies laid out in a nearby schoolyard, underscoring that the two sets of reporting concern different events.