PLA Posts 6 Sorties May 17 — 4 Enter SW/Eastern ADIZ; 5 PLAN Vessels; 14 Days to HIMARS Deadline; Post-Summit Moderate Pressure Maintained

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected 6 PLA aircraft sorties and 5 PLAN vessels plus 1 official ship operating around Taiwan as of 06:00 local time on May 17, 2026. Of the 6 sorties, 4 entered Taiwan's southwestern and eastern Air Defense Identification Zones — consistent with the PLA's established ADIZ corridor pattern. This represents a moderate-tempo continuation of post-summit PLA activity: sharply below the summit-conclusion day peak of 15 total aircraft (May 15), but above the summit-window lows of 2-3 sorties seen on May 13-14. PLAN naval presence increased slightly to 5 vessels plus 1 official ship, from May 15's 4 PLAN vessels. The full May 2026 sortie sequence now reads: 4 (May 1) → 29 record (May 2) → 1 (May 3) → 2 (May 4) → 1 (May 5) → 0 (May 6) → 22 (May 7) → 12 (May 8) → 8 (May 9) → 12 (May 10) → 7 (May 11) → 9 (May 12) → 2 (May 13) → 3 (May 14) → 15 (May 15) → 6 (May 17). AEI's May 15 China & Taiwan Update reported 169 ADIZ incursions in April 2026 total — significantly lower than the same period in 2025, following the Justice Mission-2025 December drills. The PRC research vessel Tongji, which conducted undersea research in waters surrounding Taiwan May 7-11, has returned to the PRC. The HIMARS payment deadline is now 14 days away (May 31). ROC Armed Forces monitored the incursions and deployed CAP aircraft, naval vessels, and coastal missile systems in response.