Taipei said 19 aircraft, including two helicopters, had entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zones to the north, east and southwest.
Collin Koh, a senior research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the helicopter, which was operating off the east side of the island, was likely on board a ship.
“This is common practice [that] “If a warship is on an anti-submarine warfare mission, they would normally send in a helicopter,” he said.
The helicopters could be coordinating with a mother ship or other Navy surface units, or the ship’s sonar “might pick up something and we’ll send a helicopter out to check it out,” he said.
Ultimately, he said, the operation appeared to be aimed at “testing Taiwan’s defensive capabilities.”
He said the development was not surprising as “the PLA Navy has begun to conduct anti-submarine warfare training more intensively” recently.
Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the main missions of PLA helicopters include submarine detection, tracking, interdiction, surveillance and rescue operations.
“Until now, patrols around the island of Taiwan have mainly been conducted as carrier-based aircraft, such as those mounted on destroyers or aircraft carriers,” he said.
Song said he had not seen images of the helicopter so it was unclear whether it belonged to mainland China’s military or coast guard.
However, Ko said it was unlikely to be a Coast Guard helicopter because Coast Guard vessels such as the Type 056 corvette are not equipped to accommodate helicopters and they are not usually seen on Taiwan’s northern and eastern coasts.
Mr Koh also said it was “unusual” that helicopters were active for five consecutive days last week.
“For example, if China is conducting an exercise that involves anti-submarine warfare, it may require helicopters to fly intensely on consecutive days,” he said.
“The other possibility is that there may be some pretty interesting underwater contact that they’re trying to track, locate and track. So there are a lot of possibilities.”
Military exercises in the Taiwan Strait have become more sensitive as tensions between Beijing and Taipei rise.
02:16
Australian PM slams China for using flares near military helicopters: ‘unacceptable’
Australian PM slams China for using flares near military helicopters: ‘unacceptable’
Beijing claims the Taiwan Strait and airspace as its territory, considers the islands it controls to be part of China, and has not renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control.
Most countries do not recognise Taiwan as an independent nation, but the United States, Taiwan’s main international backer, opposes any attempt to seize the island by force.
