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Taiwanese air forces commence annual aviation exercise — report

The PLA aviation activity has been observed after the British government announced that Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands will travel to Taiwan for a two-day visit, during which he will meet with the island’s administration head Tsai Ing-wen

HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, November 7. /TASS/. The Taiwanese Air Force commend the annual "Sky Dragon" military exercise, which will last for six days, the Taiwanese central news agency reported citing military sources.

The exercise will involve IDF, F-16V and Mirage 2000 planes. The exercise plan includes pilot competition on destruction of targets in air, on water and on the ground and practice of ground support services operation.

One day earlier, the Taiwanese Defense Ministry warned that 4 PLA military ships and 64 military aircraft, including drones, jet planes and helicopters, approached the island, with 21 aircraft crossing the so-called median line.

The PLA aviation activity has been observed after the British government announced that Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands will travel to Taiwan for a two-day visit, during which he will meet with the island’s administration head Tsai Ing-wen. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called on London to stop official contacts with the Taibei administration.

The PLA has been holding such maneuvers regularly after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island on August 2-3. After that, several more US and other foreign delegations visited Taibei. Beijing considers such visits provocations and interference in its internal affairs.

Taiwan, the largest Chinese island, has been controlled by its own administration since 1949, but Beijing considers it an inseparable part of the country.