HONG KONG/XIANGGANG, August 23. /TASS/. Taiwan's Defense Ministry on Tuesday said it had detected four Chinese warships and 20 Chinese air force planes in the area around the island.

The so-called median line in the Taiwan Strait was crossed by nine fighter jets as they performed maneuvers, the ministry said on Twitter. In response, the Taiwanese military scrambled an air patrol, sent out radio warnings and put air defense systems on alert.

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducts these maneuvers almost every day following a trip to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on August 2-3. More US delegations made trips to the island afterward, also drawing ire from Beijing.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the Kuomintang’s remaining forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) were defeated in the Chinese Civil War and took refuge on the island. Taiwan has preserved the flag and several other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed before the Communists took over the mainland. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces.