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Nine Chinese military aircraft, two drones seen near Taiwan, its top brass reports

Tensions heightened in the Taiwan Strait after the early August visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island, which outraged China

HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, December 8. /TASS/. In the past 24 hours, Taiwan’s defense ministry detected four naval ships of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in an area near the island and 27 aircraft, of which 11 crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said in a daily report published on its website on Thursday.

"At 6:00 am (1:00 am Moscow time - TASS) today, 27 aircraft and four PLA warships were detected around Taiwan," the report reads.

According to the report, TV-001 and CH-4 combat drones, four Chengdu J-10 combat aircraft and as many J-16 fighters, as well as a Y-8 maritime patrol aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwanese military used warships, sent air patrols and deployed air defense missile systems in response.

The PLA has held such maneuvers regularly in recent months. Tensions heightened in the Taiwan Strait after the early August visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island, which outraged China.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949, but Beijing considers it an inalienable part of China’s territory and has called on foreign countries to respect its `one-China’ principle.