HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, May 11. /TASS/. Taiwan has reported the approach of 12 aircraft and five ships of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) in the region near the island over the past 24 hours, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday..
"12 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 a.m.(UTC+8) today. R.O.C. Armed Forces have monitored the situation and tasked CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond these activities," the statement said.
According to the statement, three aircraft crossed the so-called midline of the Taiwan Strait and entered the island's air defense identification zone southwest of it. The vehicles were: a BZK-005 type reconnaissance drone, a Y-8 radar reconnaissance aircraft, and a WZ-7 helicopter.
The PLA conducted drills on April 8-10 in the Taiwan Strait and waters north, south and east of the island. The exercise was dubbed ‘Sharp Sword’, and patrols around Taiwan were conducted in parallel. The exercise was a response to a trip by Taiwan's Chief of Staff Tsai Ing-wen, who "transited" through the United States and met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on April 5. In response, the US side declared the need to continue arms sales to Taiwan. The Chinese Foreign Ministry protested the incident, saying that Beijing would take effective and resolute countermeasures.
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. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China and urges foreign countries to comply with the ‘one-China’ policy.