Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Monday it had detected 103 Chinese fighter jets around the island in 24 hours, the highest number recently recorded.
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“Between September 17 and 18 morning, the Ministry of Defense detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft, which is a recent record and poses serious security problems on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the region,” the statement said an explanation.
“Continued military harassment” from China “can easily lead to a rise in tensions and deterioration of security in the region,” the ministry warned, calling on Beijing to “immediately stop these destructive unilateral actions.”
Of the military aircraft detected, 40 crossed the median line – an unofficial border between China and Taiwan that China does not recognize – and entered the southern Air Defense Identification Zone (Adiz) – west and southeast, the press release said. Nine Chinese warships were also spotted around the island.
The Adiz, not to be confused with a country’s airspace, covers a much larger area in which any foreign aircraft is supposed to report to local aviation authorities. The Adiz of Taiwan partially overlaps with the Adiz of China and even covers part of the continent.
China has not yet commented on these maneuvers.
The Chinese government views the autonomous island as part of its territory, which it wants to one day reunify by force if necessary. Beijing has increased its threats and political and economic pressure on Taiwan since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016 from a party that supports a formal declaration of independence for the island.
Last April, after a meeting between the Taiwanese president and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, Beijing conducted military exercises simulating an encirclement of the island.
Taiwan then detected 71 fighter jets in 24 hours, a record deployment achieved in December 2022.
In August 2022, the Chinese army launched gigantic military maneuvers around Taiwan after the visit of Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US Congress, to Taipei.