(Taipei) Taiwan said Monday it had detected 21 Chinese military planes and 15 navy or coast guard vessels around the island in the past 24 hours, days after large-scale Chinese military maneuvers in the area.
Ten of the Chinese planes crossed the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the past 24 hours, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday, adding that it responded appropriately.
China considers the island of Taiwan to be part of its territory and says it will never renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.
Last Thursday, Chinese warships and fighter jets circled Taiwan in large-scale exercises that Beijing said were a test of its ability to seize the island.
During the two-day exercises, China vowed that the “separatist forces pro-Taiwan independence will end in blood and with broken heads.”
In recent years, Beijing has increased military pressure on Taiwan, maintaining an almost daily presence of warplanes, drones and ships around the island.
These actions, described by experts as a “gray zone,” are hostile tactics that do not amount to a declaration of war.
Taiwan’s new President Lai Ching-te said on Sunday he was still ready to work with China, despite military exercises.
Beijing considered that the official’s inauguration speech pushed his “compatriots in Taiwan into a perilous situation of war and danger”.