Seventy-one Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets and drones entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in the past 24 hours, the island’s government said on Monday, the largest reported incursion to date.
The incursion included 43 Chinese aircraft that crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median line, an unofficial buffer between the two sides that lies within the defence zone, said in a report, as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island.
The official Central News Agency said it was the largest Chinese air force incursion to date, although there was no sense of alarm on the island, which has witnessed a steady increase in Chinese pressure in recent years.
China, which claims her as its own territory, said it had conducted “strike drills” in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to what it said was provocation from the democratically governed island and the United States.
Taiwan, which strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims, said the drills showed Beijing was destroying regional peace and trying to intimidate her citizens.
President Tsai Ing-wen, speaking at a military ceremony on Monday morning, reiterated the need for to boost its defence capacity due to “the continuous expansion of authoritarianism”, although she made no mention of the latest military activity.
