Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said on July 21, 2017, that the flight path of 10 Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft flying over international waters off Taiwan’s east coast and through the Miyako Strait between Japan’s Miyako and Okinawa islands on Thursday was fully monitored. Japan's Defence Ministry said two Chinese Xian H-6 bombers and other airplanes flew over the Miyako Strait, adding that Chinese warships and airplanes have been seen passing through the strait with increased frequency. which the MND at the time said it had also monitored. In a similar military exercise the previous week, China flew six warplanes over the Miyako Strait, which the MND at the time said it had also monitored. The flyover by the formation of Xian H-6 bombers was “unusual,” Japan’s defense ministry said in a statement, but added that there had been no violation of the nation’s airspace. It added that from 2012 to last year, PLAAF planes crossed the Miyako Strait between four and six times per year.
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