The Ministry of National Defense has stated today (18^th) that various types of aircrafts from the People’s Liberation Army including the Xian H-6, Shaanxi Y-8, and Su-30MKM were transported out to the sea successively from bases including Guangdong and Huiyang in Mainland China, and flew towards Western Pacific in the southeast direction through the Bashi Channel, then flew back to the station from the original route to execute blue water and long flight training exercise. In addition, two warships of the People’s Liberation Army have also sailed at the Western Pacific sea area outside of the Southeast Air Defense Identification Zone, which has been determined to be cooperating with the airborne blue water and long flight training.

The Ministry of National Defense emphasized that citizens can be reassured that during the entire training activity of the People’s Liberation Army aircrafts and warships, the Armed Forces found no abnormal situation by utilizing joint intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in accordance with the regulations, and dispatching aircrafts and warships to monitor, grasp, and correspond to the situation in order to ensure the safety of the airspace and sea area in Taiwan.