The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said it detected 153 Chinese military aircraft in a 25-hour period that included China’s war games around the nation the previous day, a surge in warplane activity.
China said the one-day drill, designated “Joint Sword-2024B,” was a warning against “separatist acts” after President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech that Beijing had denounced.
The drills were not only a concern for Taiwan, but risked destabilizing the region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense
“Any drills without prior warning would cause a great disturbance to peace and stability in the entire region,” he told reporters in Taipei. “China’s drills not only affect Taiwan’s neighborhood, but also seriously affected international navigational rights and air and sea space, so it attracted the attention of other countries.”
In a daily update on Chinese military activity around Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said it spotted 153 military aircraft in the 25-hour period from 5am on Monday to 6am yesterday, including the single-day record of 125 planes recorded as of 4:30pm on Monday.
A ministry map showed that 28 of the aircraft had crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, which had previously served as an unofficial barrier, which China says it does not recognize.
Other areas that saw activity were waters off the southeast of Taiwan proper, home to a major air base, and to the southwest, at the top part of the South China Sea, near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島).
Also spotted were 14 Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy ships and 12 “official” vessels, the ministry said, referring to ships of the China Coast Guard and similar agencies.
Taiwan has complained of almost daily Chinese military activity nearby in the past five years. China has held at least four rounds of large scale war games since 2022.
Additional reporting by CNA
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