A Uni Air chartered flight took off from Kaohsiung for the Pratas Islands at 8:35 a.m. The flight was carrying several dozen passengers, including Coast Guard Administration officials and Marine National Park Headquarters officials. As a previous chartered flight that attempted the same trip on Oct. 15 was turned back by the Hong Kong Zone, this flight was being watched by many. Meanwhile, a PRC aircraft entered Taiwan's southeastern air defense identification zone at 8 a.m.


A chartered Uni Air flight took off from Kaohsiung at 8:20 a.m. after a 15-minute delay and landed on the Pratas Islands at 9:44 a.m. The flight was originally scheduled for the 22nd, but was canceled due to inclement weather.

This was a normal flight. (Did you have any contact with the Hong Kong side?) We prepared for the flight in accordance with the information given to us by Uni Air and then we flew to the Pratas Islands today.

On the 15th, a previous run of the regular flight was turned back by Hong Kong officials. The flight on the 26th was carrying several dozen passengers, including Coast Guard and Marine National Park Headquarters officials. After a break of two days, PRC aircraft were again spotted in Taiwan's air defense identification zone on the 25th and 26th. According to records, the aircraft breached the southeastern part of Taiwan's ADIZ at 2,000 meters. As usual, the ROC Air Force ordered the aircraft to leave. Observers believe the PRC aircraft was a Shaanxi Y-8 transport aircraft making its 20th appearance this month in Taiwan's ADIZ. Retired Major General Yu Bei-chen says the US arms sale to Taiwan will not be affected by the outcome of the presidential election.

The Republic of China is a peace-loving country. It doesn't have defensive weapons of aggression. That's why (the US) was willing to sell us these defensive weapons this time. It shows that they trust the ROC, and trust the ROC's Ministry of National Defense to not act rashly.

Yu says in contrast to the People's Liberation Army, the ROC military has never committed an act of provocation in all these years. According to Yu, this is why the US is now willing to sell weapons to Taiwan. According to a Twitter user, a US Air Force RC-135W and KC-135T were heading towards the South China Sea on the morning of the 26th.



立榮航空這架編號B-17010的東沙島包機，是原本22號遭颱風外圍環流取消的航班；表定上午8點20分起飛，雖然延誤15分鐘，仍然比定期航班的9點提早，順利於9點44分抵達東沙島。

海巡署東沙分署秘書室主任 賴育杰表示：「這一趟的航程，目前就是保持正常。（有去跟哪一方，就是香港方，去做聯繫，或者接洽嗎？) 我們按照立榮航空，通知我們的部分，我們做一個準備飛行，然後我們今天，正式飛往東沙。」

由於15號的定期航班，被香港區管中心要求返航，後來又因為天候緣故、無法補飛，等於是從10號到26號，東沙島航線整整中斷半個月；海巡署不願透露機班上人數為多少，但此班機滿載為70人，搭載海巡官兵，及海洋國家公園管理處數十人。此外，中共軍機在23和24、休兵兩天後，25號和26號上午8點多，又進入我防空識別區；根據紀錄、中共軍機入侵我西南防空識別區，高度2千公尺，我空軍照例在空中警戒、廣播驅離。依照高度研判，這架應該還是運八反潛機，也是10月記錄到，第20次侵入西南空域。面對中國挑釁台海安全，退役少將于北辰26號在廣播節目分析，無論美國總統誰當選，都不會影響對台軍售的決定。

退役少將 于北辰表示：「中華民國，的確是一個愛好和平，沒有侵略主義的這一群國防武力。所以他(美國)這一次，願意把這些略具強勢、防禦的武器，給我們的時候，我覺得，他第一個，他已經信任了中華民國，信任了中華民國的國防部。你們是不會輕啟戰端。」

于北辰還說，台灣經歷這麼多年，不管誰執政，國軍都沒有挑釁過，但解放軍卻從來不放棄，武力犯台的意圖，因此美國才會改變軍售思維。有社群媒體則指出，26號一早有兩架美國軍機，包括一架RC-135W電偵機，和一架KC-135T空中加油機，朝著南海進行巡弋。