PLA Drops to 1 Sortie on March 30 — Sharp Return to Baseline After 19-Sortie Peak

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected only 1 sortie of PLA aircraft operating around Taiwan on March 30, accompanied by 9 PLAN vessels and 1 official ship. The single sortie crossed the Taiwan Strait median line into Taiwan's southwestern and southeastern ADIZ. This represents a dramatic return to baseline levels following the March 29 peak of 19 sorties — the sharpest single-day decline in the late-March escalation spike. The pattern is consistent with PLA's established 'spike-and-retract' signaling behavior documented in previous exercises: high-visibility escalatory days followed by near-zero activity. Analysts at AEI/ISW note the three-day surge (6 sorties Mar 27 → 15 Mar 28 → 19 Mar 29) achieved its signaling objective and the immediate drop to 1 sortie suggests the PLA chose not to sustain the operational tempo. ROC Armed Forces deployed CAP aircraft, Navy ships, and coastal missile systems in response.