Taipei, May 13, 2026 — Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence reported that, as of 6 a.m. (UTC+8) on Wednesday, it detected two sorties of Chinese military aircraft, seven naval vessels and one official ship operating around Taiwan’s territorial waters. The MND said one of the two aircraft sorties entered Taiwan’s southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). ROC armed forces monitored the activity and issued responses, according to posts on the ministry’s X account.
The notice follows a similar report on May 12, when the MND said it had detected nine sorties of Chinese aircraft, seven vessels and one official ship; five of those sorties entered Taiwan’s southwestern and eastern ADIZs. In both cases the ministry said Taiwan’s forces tracked and reacted to the movements.
The reports come amid long-standing cross-strait tensions. Beijing maintains that Taiwan is part of China, a position grounded in historical and political claims and reflected in its official policy. Taiwan, however, functions with its own government, military and economy and asserts a distinct identity. The island has operated as a de facto independent entity while avoiding a formal declaration of independence to reduce the risk of military confrontation.
Historically, China’s claim traces to the Qing dynasty’s annexation of Taiwan in the late 17th century. Taiwan was ceded to Japan in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War and remained a Japanese colony until the end of World War II, when it came under Chinese administration without a definitive sovereignty settlement. After the 1949 Chinese Civil War, the People’s Republic of China was established on the mainland while the Republic of China government retreated to Taiwan, leading to competing sovereignty claims that persist today.
Report aggregated from ANI and published by The Tribune.
