A record number of Chinese warplanes flew close to Taiwan during military drills

By Wayne Chang and Helen Regan, CNN

(CNN) — China flew a record number of fighter jets and other warplanes around Taiwan during its large-scale military drills on Monday, the island’s Defense Ministry said.

The one-day military exercises, which involved Chinese fighter jets, drones, warships and Coast Guard vessels simulating a blockade of the self-governing island, was condemned by Taiwan as an “unreasonable provocation” and is the latest in a series of recent war games conducted by Beijing against its neighbor.

According to the ministry, 153 Chinese aircraft were detected around Taiwan in a 25-hour period between Monday and Tuesday.

Of those, 111 warplanes crossed the Median Line – an informal demarcation point in the Taiwan Strait that Beijing does not recognize, but until recent years had largely respected – and entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

An ADIZ is unilaterally imposed and distinct from sovereign airspace, which is defined under international law as extending 12 nautical miles from a territory’s shoreline. No Chinese warplanes were spotted entering Taiwan’s sovereign airspace, a step that would be considered a major escalation.

While not directly comparable, the spike in Chinese warplanes on Monday superseded the previous daily record in September 2023, when 103 Chinese military aircraft were detected operating around Taiwan in a 24-hour span.

In response to the latest incursions, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it employed its own aircraft, navy vessels and coastal missile systems to monitor the activity.

China said its military drills were intended as a “stern waning” to independence forces in Taiwan and came days after the island’s new president, Lai Ching-te, gave a speech vowing to protect Taiwan’s sovereignty in the face of challenges from Beijing.

Taiwan “is not subordinate” to China, Lai said on Taiwan’s National Day Thursday, and Beijing “does not have the right to represent Taiwan.”

China’s military exercises around Taiwan, a democracy of 24 million people, have become increasingly frequent in recent years and have tended to coincide with events that have angered Beijing.

Those drills allow China to monitor Taiwan’s responses and also tax the island’s own military resources including its aging and outgunned fleet of fighter jets.

Analysts said Monday’s drills were part of a general strategy of both keeping Taiwan under pressure and normalizing regular war games.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party views Taiwan as part of its territory, despite having never controlled it. It has long vowed that the island must be “unified” with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary, while the Taiwanese authorities strongly reject China’s territorial claims over it. Many people on the island view themselves as distinctly Taiwanese.

The People’s Liberation Army said the drills were a joint operation of the army, navy, air force and rocket force, and were conducted in the Taiwan Strait – a narrow body of water separating the island from mainland China – as well as encircling Taiwan.

A map released by the Eastern Theater Command showed drills taking place in nine areas surrounding Taiwan as well as its outlying islands that are closer to mainland China.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry added that 14 warships were detected around Taiwan over the same 25-hour period. Among them was the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning, which moved into a location to the east of the island.

During the military exercise, none of China’s naval vessels successfully entered Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which is defined under international law as extending 24 nautical miles from a territory’s shoreline, the ministry said in a press conference on Monday evening.

Analysts, however, said the drills were “highly dangerous,” and because they are “approaching, closer and closer,” will “leave us [with] a very short response time.”

The Chinese military said it kicked off the Joint Sword 2024-B drills at 5 a.m. local time Monday. By 6 p.m. an updated statement announced that it had “successfully” completed the exercises.

According to a flight map provided by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, Chinese jets were detected around the island after China’s announcement that it had wrapped up its war games.

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