PLA Sorties Drop to 2 on April 24 — 7 PLAN Vessels Remain; Sharp De-Escalation from 15-Sortie Anniversary Spike

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense reported 2 PLA aircraft sorties and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan as of 06:00 local time on April 24, 2026 — a sharp de-escalation from the 15-sortie PLA Navy anniversary spike of April 23. The 7 PLAN vessels represent a slight increase in naval presence (from 5 on Apr 23 and 5 on Apr 22), even as air sorties dropped dramatically. The April 24 data follows the established PLA spike-and-pullback pattern: 24 sorties (Apr 21 — highest non-exercise count since Justice Mission-2025) → 6 sorties (Apr 22 pullback) → 15 sorties (Apr 23 anniversary spike) → 2 sorties (Apr 24 pullback). The elevated naval presence of 7 PLAN vessels — the highest ship count since the April 20 Liaoning carrier transit (12 vessels) — indicates the PLA is maintaining robust maritime posture even while reducing air activity. Taiwan's armed forces monitored the situation and deployed combat air patrols, naval ships, and coastal missile systems in response. With 20 days remaining before the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing (May 14-15, 2026), the pattern suggests Beijing is calibrating air pressure to avoid sustained high-sortie counts that could create pre-summit diplomatic complications, while sustaining an elevated naval presence as a persistent reminder of PLA maritime capability around Taiwan.