The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday the detection of 22 Chinese planes around the island in less than three hours, reports AFP, quoted by News.ro.
“We detected activities of a number of 22 planes belonging to the PLA (Chinese army) starting at (local) 9.30 (4.30, Romanian time)”, the ministry announced in a statement published on Saturday at 12.10 local time.
“Two planes crossed the median line and entered the air defense identification zone of northern and central Taiwanukui,” the ministry announced.
Warplanes and drones have joined ships belonging to the Chinese Navy in a “joint combat patrol” mission, the same source states.
These maneuvers come less than a month before the inauguration, on May 20, of the new Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te, whom China considers a dangerous separatist.
The median line bisects the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometer seaway that separates the island from mainland China.
Beijing, which does not recognize this line, claims Taiwan as part of Chinese territory and has never stopped using force to take the island under its control.
During the administration of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, tensions between Beijing and Taipei have risen, as both she and her government reject any Chinese claim to the island.
His deputy, Vice President Lai, won a presidential election in January, despite warnings from Beijing that it would cause “war and decline” for Taiwan.
Saturday’s show of military power comes as the United States and the Philippines conduct joint military exercises near hot spots in the South China Sea and Taiwan Island.
These joint exercises include a simulation of the recapture of an island occupied by the enemy in areas off Taian.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite a ruling by international justice that this claim has no legal basis.
Recent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships have rekindled fears of a wider conflict.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry accuses the United States of “fueling the military confrontation”.
