(Taipei) Taiwan counted 24 Chinese military planes around the island in the space of 24 hours, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry said Thursday.
According to a ministry statement, 24 Chinese planes and five ships were detected around the island in the 24 hours before 6 a.m. (5 p.m. Eastern) Thursday.
Of these, “11 planes crossed the median line — an unofficial demarcation between China and Taiwan that the former does not recognize — and entered the air defense identification zone (Adiz) of the southwest and from the north,” said the same source.
It is Beijing’s biggest show of force around the island since Taiwan’s presidential election.
On Saturday, voters in Taiwan elected Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as president of the archipelago, who promised to protect the territory from “threats and intimidation” from Beijing.
China, which considers the island of Taiwan as one of its provinces, to be reunified by force if necessary, described Mr. Lai as a dangerous separatist and threatened his supporters with harmful consequences.
Two days after this election, Nauru, a small Pacific nation of 12,500 inhabitants, announced on Monday that it was severing its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which it now recognizes “as an inalienable part of Chinese territory”.
Taiwanese authorities report almost daily incursions by aircraft from the Chinese army, which last year carried out major military maneuvers around the island.
In September, it sent 103 planes around Taiwan in the space of 24 hours, which Taipei called a “record”.