In apparent 1st, PLA chopper crosses Taiwan Strait median line

Taipei, July 21 (CNA) A Chinese military helicopter was detected crossing the Taiwan Strait median line on Monday, in what a military expert said appeared to be a first.

According to the Ministry of National Defense (MND), two aircraft -- a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) helicopter and a PLA drone -- were detected operating on Taiwan's side of the Taiwan Strait between 10:20 a.m. and 7:40 p.m. Monday.

During the 24 hours from 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) detected five PLA warships, six Chinese official vessels and four PLA aircraft sorties operating around Taiwan.

Chieh Chung (揭仲), a researcher at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR), said he believes it is the first time a PLA helicopter has been detected crossing the median line.

China began routinely sending military aircraft across the line, effectively erasing the long-observed tacit boundary, following then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022.

Chieh told CNA that since Pelosi's visit, PLA helicopters have frequently been detected operating near Taiwan.

On Monday, however, the helicopter not only crossed the median line but also operated for an extended period in Taiwan's designated no-fly zone, representing a new form of "gray-zone" operation, Chieh said.

Gray-zone activities are actions involving ambiguous or nontraditional methods aimed at achieving strategic objectives without overtly crossing the threshold into open conflict.

He said it was not immediately clear whether the detected PLA helicopter was a shipborne aircraft or had been dispatched from a nearby PLA Army aviation base along China's coast.

Either way, Chieh said Taiwan's military should remain alert to the possibility that the PLA was conducting joint operations involving drones and helicopters on Taiwan's side of the Strait.