Taiwan said Saturday it had spotted 42 incursions by Chinese military planes into its air defense zone since China announced the start of military exercises.
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The island’s defense ministry said in a statement that it had “consecutively detected 42 incursions” since 9 a.m [01h00 GMT]” SATURDAY.
In those attacks, 26 warplanes crossed the Taiwan Strait centerline, the ministry said.
According to the same document, eight Chinese ships also took part in the maneuvers, which Beijing said were aimed at simulating “real combat conditions.”
The Taiwanese ministry said the “national army is monitoring the situation and using reconnaissance methods to control it closely,” adding that it had dispatched planes and ships.
China announced earlier Saturday that it had launched “joint air and sea patrols and military drills by the navy and air force around the island of Taiwan,” according to the official Xinhua News Agency, citing an army spokesman.
These drills came after Taiwan Vice President William Lai made stops in New York and then San Francisco before and after a trip to Paraguay.