More than 30 Chinese warplanes entered Taiwan’s air defense zone within six hours, the island’s defense ministry said on Thursday.
As of 5 a.m. local time (2100 GMT) on Thursday, “a total of 37 Chinese warplanes” have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ, Taiwan Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said.
“Some traveled further to the western Pacific for long-range reconnaissance training,” he said.
An Adiz is a large area unilaterally designated by countries where they require identification of foreign aircraft for reasons of national security.
But Beijing-Taipei ties, which were at their lowest since Xi Jinping took power more than a decade ago, have continued to deteriorate in recent years, and China has stepped up military incursions around the island.
Since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, China has viewed Taiwan as a province it has not yet successfully reunified with the rest of its territory, and Beijing has sought such reunification by force if necessary.
Although there hasn’t been the greatest number of Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ this year — 45 Chinese planes invaded on April 9 — Thursday’s wave came in a very short time.
The Taiwanese military is “closely monitoring the situation,” the ministry said on Twitter, adding that patrol planes, warships and land-based missile systems have been deployed in response.
Thursday’s operations come a day after the conclusion of the first joint US-Japan-Philippine Coast Guard exercises in the South China Sea.