Over the past 24 hours, 103 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft have approached Taiwan. This was reported by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.
“From September 17 to 18, 103 PLA aircraft and nine PLA ships were detected around Taiwan,” the report said.
It is specified that 40 aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered the southwestern and southeastern air defense zone of Taiwan. The detected 103 PLA aircraft became a new maximum, the Ministry of Defense noted.
It added that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait region is the shared responsibility of all parties in the region. The Taiwanese department also warned that “continued military persecution” by the PRC could lead to an escalation of the situation.
Taiwan’s military regularly reports sightings of PLA aircraft and ships in the Taiwan Strait. The situation worsened after the visit of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to the island in early August 2022. The Chinese authorities protested the visit of the American official. According to Pelosi, in this way she decided to demonstrate US support for democracy in Taiwan.
China considers Taiwan to be its province, so the authorities oppose any contacts between the island’s administration and countries with which Beijing has diplomatic relations. China has repeatedly noted that it will take “serious measures” to protect the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.