By Yimou Lee
Anti-landing spikes placed along the coast of Lieyu islet on Taiwan's Kinmen islands. Taiwan says 71 Chinese air force aircraft entered its air defence identification zone in the past 24 hours. File photo. Photo: AFP
Seventy-one Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets and drones have entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone in the past 24 hours, the island's government says, the largest reported incursion to date.
Of the aircraft, 43 also crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, an unofficial buffer between the two sides that lies within the defence zone, Taiwan's Defence Ministry said in a report, as Beijing continues military activities close to the Chinese-claimed island.
Taiwan's official Central News Agency said it was the largest Chinese air force incursion to date, although there was no sense of alarm on the island, which has witnessed a steady increase in Chinese pressure in recent years.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, said it had conducted "strike drills" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to what it said was provocation from the democratically governed island and the United States.
Taiwan, which strongly rejects China's sovereignty claims, said the drills showed Beijing was destroying regional peace and trying to intimidate Taiwan's people.
The office of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said Tsai would call a high-level national security meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss reinforcing the island's civil defence system, followed by a press conference on new civil defence measures.
The statement gave no details, but the defence ministry has said it was considering extending compulsory military service beyond four months, as the war in Ukraine and rising tensions with Beijing renewed discussion about how to respond to Chinese military pressure.
"The more preparations we make, the less likely there will be rash attempts of aggression. The more united we are, the stronger and safer Taiwan would become," Tsai told a military ceremony today.
During the latest incursion, several Chinese planes, mostly fighter jets, briefly crossed the median line in the sensitive Taiwan Strait before returning to China, according to a map provided by Taiwan's defence ministry. Seven Chinese navy ships were also detected near Taiwan, the ministry said.
China's military also sent early warning, electronic-warfare and antisubmarine aircraft, as well as drones, into Taiwan's southern air defence identification zone, or ADIZ, according to the report, which detailed Chinese activities near Taiwan over the 24 hours to 6am local time (10am NZT).
Taipei has complained of repeated missions by the Chinese air force over the last two years, often in southern areas of its ADIZ.
Taiwan sent unspecified combat aircraft to warn away the Chinese planes, while missile systems monitored their flight, the ministry said, using standard wording for its response.
China has stepped up its diplomatic, military and economic pressure in recent years on the self-governed island to accept Beijing's rule.
Taiwan's government says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked.
- Reuters