The military detected a record 153 Chinese military aircraft around the nation, the Ministry of National Defense announced today, after China held a day of large-scale drills yesterday.
The aircraft were spotted in the 25-hour period until 6am today, the ministry said in a statement — the most for a single day.
Photo: EPA
Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard boats to encircle Taiwan yesterday, with Taiwan responding by dispatching "appropriate forces" and placing its outlying islands on heightened alert.
The ministry typically records the numbers of Chinese warplanes and warships operating around Taiwan in 24-hour periods from 6am to 6am the next day, but it moved the start of that period to 5am yesterday to match the start of the Joint Sword 2024-B drills that began at 5:02am.
Forty-seven Chinese fighter jets were detected near the median line of the Taiwan Strait from 5:02am to 8:57pm, 28 of which crossed the median line, the flight map released by the ministry showed.
Another 41 fighter jets entered the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between 6:43am and 6:14pm, and 42 fighter jets flew into the eastern part of the ADIZ from 5:16am to 5:31pm, the map showed.
Also, 23 fighter jets and choppers were detected to the north, south and southeast of Taiwan just outside the ADIZ between 5:02am and 6:34pm, the map showed.
None of the aircraft entered Taiwan's contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation's shores, the map showed.
Taiwan condemned China's actions as "irrational and provocative," and the US called them "unwarranted."
Japan said today it had expressed its "concerns" to China over the drills, and scrambled fighter jets near its southern island of Yonaguni, which lies near northeast Taiwan.
"The government is closely monitoring the related activities with great interest, and has conveyed Japan's concerns to the Chinese side," Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki told reporters.
Yesterday was the fourth round of large-scale drills in just more than two years.
The ministry also recorded 14 Chinese navy ships in the latest 25-hour period, slightly fewer than the 17 announced yesterday afternoon.
The Pentagon yesterday strongly criticized the Chinese military drills around Taiwan, calling them destabilizing.
"This military pressure operation is irresponsible, disproportionate and destabilizing," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said in a statement.
China said the drills, dubbed Joint Sword 2024B, were held in areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan.
Beijing declared them over by about 6pm yesterday, about 13 hours after they started.
China said the exercises served as a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces."
Additional reporting by Reuters
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any