Taiwan's Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it had spotted 66 military aircraft and seven Chinese People's Liberation Army ships around the island in the past 24 hours, a record number this year.
The ministry said in a statement that 56 of these Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which divides the 180-kilometre-wide strait between the island and mainland China. The ministry stressed in its statement that it "monitored the situation and responded to it."
This is the largest number of Chinese military aircraft that Taiwan has spotted around the island in a single day since the beginning of the year. The last record in this field dates back to May, when Taiwan spotted 62 military aircraft and 27 warships near its waters and airspace.
China claims Taiwan as an integral part of its territory and will not hesitate to use force to reclaim it. In recent years, it has intensified its pressure on Taipei and conducted military exercises around the island in May after the inauguration of Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing considers a "dangerous separatist."
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