The self-ruled island, Taiwan defence ministry said they have detected 153 aircraft surrounding as China carried out massive military exercises.
The “surge in warplane activity” saw a record number of aircraft spotted in the 25 hours to 6am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT, Monday), Al Jazeera reported as citing the Ministry of National Defense statement.
Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coastguard ships to encircle Taiwan on Monday. Taipei said it responded by dispatching “appropriate forces” and placing its outlying islands on heightened alert.
The defence ministry said 90 of the Chinese aircraft were spotted within Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.
Beijing considers Taiwan is part of its territory and has said it would never rule out using force to take it.
China said the one-day drill, designated “Joint Sword-2024B”, was a warning against “separatist acts”. The war games followed a National Day speech last week by Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te that Beijing had denounced.
Lai said in the speech that China has no right to represent Taiwan.
“This is a resolute punishment for Lai Ching-te’s continuous fabrication of ‘Taiwan independence’ nonsense,” China’s Taiwan affairs office said in a statement.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has commented on Pentagon slaiming the exercise carried out by China, stating that Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair that brooks no external interference. To truly uphold cross-Strait peace and stability, one must unequivocally uphold the one-China principle and firmly oppose “Taiwan independence.” (AlJazeera & China FM)
