HONG KONG, February 6. /TASS/. Taiwan has reported the approach of 25 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and six People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships in the region adjacent to the island, Taiwan’s defense department said in a statement.

According to the defense department, the aircraft were fighter jets, support aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. At least 13 of them crossed the so-called island's air defense identification zone, which Taiwan considers the fictitious border with mainland China.

In addition, a Chinese balloon was detected at an altitude of 23,000 feet (about 7,000 meters).

It is the highest number of Chinese aircraft recorded around Taiwan since at least February 1, when the Taiwanese military reported 33 PLA aircraft near the island.

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.