China has sent 71 warplanes, including dozens of fighter jets, to military exercises around Taiwan, Taipei’s Defense Ministry said on Monday.
Beijing said the maneuvers are a “strong response” to the US announcement of support for the island in defense matters.
Taiwanese authorities point to one of the largest daily incursions by Chinese military aircraft to date.
Between 6am on Sunday and 6am on Monday, 47 Chinese aircraft crossed the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) along the Taiwan Strait.
Taipei said it had been monitoring Chinese maneuvers and denounced the unofficial border in the Taiwan Strait as being crossed by China.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, the military exercises included 18 J-16 fighters, 11 J-1 fighters, six Su-30 fighters and drones. There were also several warships of the Chinese navy in the sea.
China justified the conduct of these “offensive drills” in the sea and airspace around Taiwan in the past 24 hours as a response to what it considers a provocation of US support for the island’s autonomy.
Washington has authorized a $10 billion investment in aid and arms sales to Taiwan.
Taiwan is an island territory self-governed by a democratic government, located east of China. Beijing does not recognize independence and has intensified military harassment in recent years, with the Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army sending planes or ships into the island’s environs almost daily.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen reiterated the need for Taiwan to increase its defense capacity due to “the continued expansion of authoritarianism,” although she did not mention recent military activity, according to British newspaper The Guardian.
Beijing considers that the visits of foreign governments to Taiwan are provocative gestures towards China’s claim to sovereignty and correspond to the recognition of the island as an independent territory. After US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August, China conducted live-fire military exercises off the island.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has already made it clear that Taiwan’s “reunification” cannot be dragged out for generations to come.
The military flights are seen as a way to probe Taipei’s defense responses.
With information from Agência Brasil/Agência RTP
