Taiwan Tracks Chinese Jets and Warships Near Island as Japan’s Taiwan Remarks Stir Tensions
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) reported that it tracked renewed Chinese military activity around the island early Tuesday. By 6 a.m. local time, officials said they had detected eight sorties of PLA aircraft and seven PLAN vessels operating in waters and airspace near Taiwan.
According to the MND, two of the eight aircraft sorties crossed the Taiwan Strait median line and then entered Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ). In a post on X, the ministry said it was closely monitoring developments and had taken appropriate measures in response.
The ministry also shared a separate update from Monday, stating that by 6 a.m. (UTC+8) it had observed three PLA aircraft sorties, eight PLAN ships, and one official vessel near Taiwan. In that earlier incident, the MND said all three aircraft crossed the median line and moved into Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ, adding that Taiwan’s forces were tracking the situation and responding accordingly.
Meanwhile, comments by Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding the possibility of Japan being drawn into a Taiwan-related crisis have added strain to ties with China and fueled concerns that her more hawkish views could face limited internal restraint, according to Kyodo News.
Kyodo News also reported that as several senior moderate figures within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and a centrist coalition partner distance themselves from Takaichi, questions are growing over her capacity to manage diplomacy beyond the China file and to steer broader economic and social policy.
An opposition lawmaker, as cited by Kyodo, argued that Takaichi’s move to align with a conservative party ahead of her planned inauguration as Japan’s first female prime minister on October 21 has “left few checks” on what the lawmaker described as her hardline direction.
Takaichi is widely viewed as a political heir to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022 and whose security-focused approach she has openly admired. However, the same lawmaker noted that Abe was “more skilled” at building consensus through dialogue.
Less than a week after Takaichi secured the LDP leadership on October 4, the Komeito party ended its 26-yearpartnership with the LDP, citing dissatisfaction with how the ruling party handled political funding scandals, Kyodo News reported.
