HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, June 4. /TASS/. Taiwan has reported the approach of 15 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and seven People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships in the region adjacent to the island, Taiwan’s defense department said in a statement on Twitter on Sunday.

Two KA-28 anti-submarine helicopters entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone, the statement added.

According to Taiwanese servicemen, aviation was tasked with responding to these activities.

The PLA has been regularly patrolling the waters near the island amid tensions in the Taiwan Strait that escalated after former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi paid a visit to Taipei early last August. China criticized the trips as provocations, interpreting them as interference in its internal affairs and support for Taiwanese separatists.

Taiwan, China’s largest island, has been governed by its local administration since 1949. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China. Washington remains Taipei’s key supplier of weapons and military hardware.