A Taiwanese AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo fighter
intercepts a PLA H-6K bomber above the Taiwan Strait. Photo: Taiwan Defense
Ministry.
The exchange of warnings occurred on Thursday
morning, in the PLAAF's fifth flyover of the island's air defense zone since
late October
By ASIA TIMES STAFF DECEMBER 8, 2017
5:30 PM (UTC+8)
A People’s Liberation Army Air Force pilot flying an H-6K
strategic bomber on Thursday morning told a Taiwanese airman on board an F-16
fighter to leave the vicinity “or proceed at your peril,” in a rare direct
radio communication within the island’s air defense zone.
The 50-second communication at around 9am was
accidentally picked up by an amateur radio operator on the island, who gave the
recording to Taiwan Apple Daily.
Reportedly the PLAAF pilot, having spotted a Taiwanese
fighter approaching, first hailed that plane’s pilot on an emergency channel…….
Here is a translation of the communication exchange,
which was conducted in Mandarin：
PLA pilot: Taiwan plane, this is the People’s Liberation
Army, you are endangering the safety of our plane, please leave immediately, or
ignore the warning at your own peril.
Taiwanese pilot: This is the Republic of China Air Force,
[you are entering] our air defense identification zone.…
PLA pilot: We are on a normal flight, you must keep a
safe distance.
Taiwanese pilot (likely speaking to air command): Yes …
will follow [the bomber].…
The defense ministries in Taiwan and Japan confirmed on
Thursday that PLA warplanes, including four H-6K bombers and at least one Y-8
spy plane, had flown past the Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait to the high seas
off southeastern Taiwan, joining a sea-air patrol with a Type 054A missile
destroyer and other PLA warships.
It’s not the first time that pilots from the feuding
militaries on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have warned each other by
radio.
One such airborne exchange happened in June, according to
Apple Daily, during a PLA flyover of the strait, though the PLA pilot involved
toned down the exchange and reportedly said at the end, “Easy, we are all
compatriots.”
The mainland Chinese military has increased its
incursions into Taiwan’s air defense zone in the second half of this year,
flexing its muscles by flying its warplanes well beyond the First Island Chain.
At least five such forays have been confirmed by the
Taiwanese military in the short span of less than two months, after the
conclusion of the 19th Communist Party Congress in late October.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says its pilots follow a
standard operating procedure whenever a foreign warplane enters the island’s
air defense zone, including airborne monitoring and issuing warnings via radio.
However, they cannot intercept the plane, let alone down it, if the foreign
aircraft is merely skimming Taiwan’s air border rather than penetrating it.
Original post: atimes.com
Published on Nov 26, 2016
Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait
Bashi Channel and Miyako Strait
Air defense identification zone
Air defense identification zone - csis.org
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