China‘s military dispatched 71 planes and seven ships to Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force directed at the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Monday after China expressed displeasure with Taiwan-related provisions in the United States’ annual defense spending bill passed on Saturday.
China’s military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, has increased in recent years, with the Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army sending planes or ships to the island almost daily.
According to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, 47 Chinese planes crossed the Taiwan Strait’s median between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides.
China sent 18 J-16 fighter jets, 11 J-1 fighters, 6 Su-30 fighters, and drones toward Taiwan.
Taiwan said it tracked Chinese movements using land-based missile systems as well as navy vessels.
“This is a firm response to the current escalation and provocation between the United States and Taiwan,” Shi Yi, spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement late Sunday night. The PLA announced joint combat patrols and joint strike drills in the waters surrounding Taiwan.
Shi was referring to the United States’ defense spending bill, which refers to China as a strategic challenge. Concerning the Indo-Pacific region, the legislation authorizes increased security cooperation with Taiwan and calls for increased cooperation with India on emerging defense technologies, readiness, and logistics.
In response to US government actions in support of Taiwan, China’s military has frequently used large military exercises as a show of force. In response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August, it conducted large-scale live-fire military exercises. Foreign government visits to the island are viewed by Beijing as de facto recognition of the island’s independence and a challenge to China’s claim of sovereignty.
