China to launch rocket Friday; will fly over Taiwan's ADIZ: MND

Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) China will launch a rocket carrying a satellite that will likely fly over Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Thursday.

It will be one of at least a dozen satellites launched by China in the past two years with a flight path over Taiwan or its ADIZ, but none of them have threatened Taiwan's security so far, because the rockets usually leave the Earth's atmosphere by the time they pass over Taiwan.

Since earlier this year, the MND has been routinely issuing information about such launches, in what it said was an effort to keep the public informed about those types of activities and also military movements by China in the vicinity of Taiwan.

In Thursday's statement, the MND said the satellite will be launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China's Sichuan Province. The rocket's flight path will take it towards the Western Pacific and over Taiwan's ADIZ, the MND said.

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.

On Thursday, the MND also released an update on the movements of Chinese military aircraft and vessels during the 24-hour period from 6 a.m. Wednesday.

A total of 10 People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and five PLA naval vessels were detected in the vicinity of Taiwan, including four warplanes that crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the MND flight map showed.

The MND said Taiwan's armed forces have been using mission aircraft, naval vessels and coastal missile systems to monitor the situation.