On Friday (April 10, 2020) the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) partook in military exercises with some of their warplanes near Taiwan. The Chinese state media reported that the PLA referred to these exercises as a necessary measure due to, “military struggle preparations against the island.”

According to the communist party run Global Times, the PLA utilized J-11 fighter jets, KJ-500 aircraft, and H-6 bombers during their simulation drill operated in the southwestern waters on the edge of Taiwan.

Taiwan’s MND (Ministry of Defense) confirmed Friday that PLA warplanes were observed flying from the southwest waters of Taiwan, over the Bashi Channel ( located in between the Philippines and Taiwan), then repeating this same route to return to base. According to the Taiwaniese military spokesman Shih Shun-wen, Taiwan’s military is actively monitoring the sea and airspace around Taiwan.

According to the MND, today was the sixth reported incident this year that the PLA has been recorded in operations bordering Taiwan’s airspace.

In a statement released on April 2, the PLA admitted that they staged an early warning, long endurance exercise this March. The goal of the drill was to simulate the rapid counter measures needed to combat enemy planes at wartime.

Prior to the March exercise, in February the PLA simulated war games with their army and navy ending with the PLA surrounding Taiwan with warplanes. After numerous days of this drill, the PLA noted that over the last couple of days the PLA had carried out exercises that simulated their, “air-ground assault and fire support drills to further refine and test their multi-service joint combat capabilities.”

The United States has recently commanded military aircraft to maintain operations near the Taiwanese airspace as well. The goal of this command is to show support for Taiwan. Although the U.S. views Taiwan as an ally, it does not recognize them a sovereign state. As of March 25, the U.S. EP-3E Aries has been performing recon near Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan.

Today, the MND of Taiwan reported that the Taiwanese military had spotted the U.S. EP-3E Aries near it’s airspace as well. Many believe that the warplane is there to monitor the activity of the PLA.

The PLA’s drills come on the heels of the United States the TAIPEI ( Taiwan Allies and International Protection and Enhancement Initiative) on March 4, which provides more support for Taiwan. The act states that the U.S. will minimize its economic, security, and diplomatic engagements with any country or nation that were to take significant actions that would undermine Taiwan. To put it simply, it’s a big middle finger to China.