BEIJING: China has sent 71 warplanes and seven warships to Taiwan in the past 24 hours to protest the importance given to Taiwan in the US annual defense bill, Taiwan’s defense ministry said. The US passed the annual defense bill on Saturday. China has expressed anger over some of the Taiwan-related provisions in the bill. Chinese warplanes crossed Taiwan’s airspace between 6 am on Sunday and 6 am on Monday, official sources said.
China claims that Taiwan is an autonomous region, but that it is under its control. Taiwan has accused China of military torture several times in recent years. The Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army also allegedly sent warplanes and ships to the island on a daily basis.
47 Chinese fighter jets crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait in protest after the bill was passed. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it was an unofficial border. The aircraft China sent to Taiwan included 18 J-16 fighter jets, 11 J-1 fighter jets, 6 Su-30 fighter jets and a large air force consisting of drones.
Taiwan said it had monitored China’s movements through land-based missile systems and its own navy ships. “This is a firm response to the current US-Taiwan relationship and provocation,” Shi Yi, a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, responded in a statement Sunday night. The US defense spending bill described China as a strategic challenge. Shi Yi was referring to this. Regarding the Indo-Pacific region, he also alleged that the legislation authorizes increased security cooperation with Taiwan.
China’s military has often conducted military exercises against Taiwan to protest US government actions in support of Taiwan. The live-fire military exercise was held in August in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Taiwan’s free acceptance of visits by foreign governments to the island has also angered China. It is reported that China views this as a challenge to China’s sovereignty claim.
Story Highlights: China sends 71 warplanes, 7 ships toward Taiwan in 24 hours