Reports have emerged that there may have been multiple flybys threatening Taiwanese airspace in the last two weeks.
On February 12th, it was reported online that Chinese planes had violated the airspace of the Pratas (Dongsha 東沙) Islands, although the claim was denied by the Ministry of Defense who clarified that the aircraft had entered Taiwan’s ADIZ, not the actual Pratas airspace.
A newer report states that on February 5th, an unidentified aircraft flew low over Dongyin Island, part of the Matsu Island chain, a site with important military installations off the coast of the PRC that Taiwan would use to detect an invasion force.
The Ministry of Defense took more than a day to respond, claiming that it was a civilian fixed-wing aircraft, but did not release any more details or the flight path of the vehicle to refute claims of a PRC flyover.
Nine days later, they revised this to claim that the aircraft may have been a Harbin Y-12 (連-12) used for civilian purposes. They also did not elaborate on the flight path, leading to speculation that it was being used for reconnaissance by one of the two sides.