HONG KONG, May 23. /TASS/. Taiwan's military said they detected 49 fighter jets and other aircraft of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in the airspace near the island after China started its exercises.

The aircraft were detected starting from 7:20 a.m. local time, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. The PLA aircraft included Su-30 and J-16 fighter jets and KJ-500 long-range radar surveillance and control aircraft, the ministry said. At least 35 aircraft crossed the so-called median line in the Taiwan Strait, which the island regards as a boundary separating it from mainland China.

Earlier on Thursday, Major-General Huang Wen-Chi, the deputy head of the Intelligence Directorate at the General Staff of Taiwan’s Armed Forces, said Taiwan detected 33 Chinese aircraft and 31 ships near the island since the beginning of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises, , has told a news briefing in Taipei.

On Thursday morning, the PLA Eastern Theater Command announced the start of the Joint Sword 2024A exercise around Taiwan and some other islands. Ground forces, missile forces, the navy and the air force are taking part. According to a statement from the PLA's Eastern Theater Command, the drills are meant to "serve as a warning to separatist forces."

Taiwan held an inauguration ceremony for the island's new chief executive, Lai Ching-te, on Monday.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the Kuomintang’s remaining forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek were defeated in the Chinese Civil War and took refuge on the island. China regards the island as one of its provinces.