HONG KONG, July 2. /TASS/. Taiwan registered the approach of 13 aircraft of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and seven warships of the PLA Navy near the island in the past day.

"As of 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday (10:00 p.m. GMT on Monday - TASS), 13 PLA aircraft and six navy vessels were tracked in the vicinity of Taiwan," the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on X.

According to the Taiwanese military, 10 aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and flew into the island’s air defense identification zone. In response, Taiwan sent aircraft, deployed ground-based air defense systems and issued radio warnings to monitor them.

Taiwan established its air defense identification zone unilaterally. It covers the water area around the island, the Taiwan Strait and sectors of the air space over three provinces in mainland China, namely Fujian, Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

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. Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China.