Taipei: Taiwan’s military said Monday that a Chinese rocket launch, which flew over Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), posed no threat due to its high altitude. The Ministry of National Defense (MND) stated in a press release that the rocket was launched at 11 a.m. from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province.
According to Focus Taiwan, the rocket, which carried satellites, flew over the southwestern part of Taiwan’s ADIZ and continued toward the western Pacific Ocean. The MND noted that because the rocket flew beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, the launch posed no threat to Taiwan. The ministry emphasized its commitment to monitoring potential threats with its joint surveillance systems and readiness to respond if necessary.
China announced earlier that the rocket successfully sent two new test satellites into space. The Shiyan-30 01 and 02 were launched aboard a Long March-2D carrier rocket and entered their preset orbits, as reported by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. The satellites are intended for experimental verification of Earth observation technologies. This launch marked the 598th flight mission of the Long March series carrier rockets, Xinhua added.
An ADIZ is a self-declared area where a country claims the right to identify, locate, and control approaching foreign aircraft, though it is not part of its territorial airspace as defined by international law.
