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Taiwan registers approach of record number of Chinese PLA aircraft in more than a year

According to the defense agency, 40 of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone

HONGKONG, September 18. /TASS/. More than a hundred Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) planes flew near Taiwan in a 24-hour span between Sunday and Monday, or a record number since at least August 2022, according to the island’s Defense Ministry.

The Taiwanese defense agency said in an annual report last week that Chinese PLA aircraft and PLAN vessels have been crossing the median line and entering the island’s air defense identification zone much more frequently since early August 2022, when the then Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taipei.

Until recently, the largest number of Chinese warplanes, or 91, were detected near Taiwan on April 10. The Taiwanese military viewed that incursion as Beijing’s response to a meeting in California between US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported earlier that 103 PLA aircraft and nine PLAN vessels were detected around Taiwan between 6:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. Moscow time) on Sunday and 6:00 a.m. on Monday.

According to the defense agency, 40 of the detected aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or entered Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone. The aircraft included 10 Su-30s, 12 J-10s, four J-11s and 10 J-16 jets. In addition, the approach of a KJ-500 long-range radar detection aircraft, as well as two Y-20 tanker aircraft was recorded.

Taiwan, China’s largest island, has been governed by its local administration since 1949. Since then, Taiwan has preserved the flag and some other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed in mainland China before the Communists came to power. Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China.

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