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Taiwan records approach of 29 aircraft, four ships from Chinese army

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait escalated after former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to Taipei last August

HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, March 2. /TASS/. Taiwan has reported the approach of 29 aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) in the region adjacent to the island over the past 24 hours, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.

According to the statement, 29 PLA aircraft and four PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m. (1 a.m. Moscow time). Twenty-one fighter jets entered the island’s air defense identification zone, the Defense Ministry added. The PLA used J-16 and J-10 fighters.

Taiwan reported the approach of a large number of PLA aircraft for the second consecutive day. On Wednesday, Taiwan’s top brass detected 25 PLA aircraft and three PLAN vessels near the island.

On Monday, the US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew over the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese Defense Ministry strongly protested against the flight.

The PLA has been regularly patrolling the waters near the island. Tensions in the Taiwan Strait escalated after former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to Taipei last August. The trip sparked extreme discontent in Beijing.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Ever since, Taipei has maintained the flag and some other attributes of the former Chinese Republic which existed on the mainland before the Communists came to power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China, and this position is backed by numerous countries, including Russia.

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