PLA conducts live-fire drills off China's southeastern coast: MND

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command is holding live-fire drills along China's southeastern coast, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday.

In holding drills in waters off Zhejiang and Fuzhou, China has demarcated several no-sail zones in the Taiwan Strait, generally close to its own coastline, the MND said in a statement.

Taiwan's armed forces are closely monitoring the situation using their joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and have deployed appropriate forces in response.

Meanwhile, the MND said at 11:30 a.m. that it had detected 20 PLA planes near Taiwan since 8:50 a.m.

The aircraft -- including J-11 fighter jets, Y-8 transport aircraft, and drones -- were operating in conjunction with PLA ships on a routine "joint combat readiness patrol," the MND said in a separate statement.

Thirteen of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or its extension and entered the northern, central, and southwestern parts of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the statement.

Taiwan's military kept close tabs on the PLA movements and deployed combat readiness patrol aircraft, vessels, and coastal missile defense systems in response.

An ADIZ is a self-declared area in which a country claims the right to identify, locate, and control approaching foreign aircraft but is not part of its territorial airspace as defined by international law.