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Taiwan detects record 153 Chinese military aircraft after drills / Photo: I-Hwa CHENG - AFP
Taiwan detects record 153 Chinese military aircraft after drills
Taiwan detected a record 153 Chinese military aircraft around the self-ruled island, official data showed Tuesday, after China held a day of large-scale drills.
The aircraft were spotted in the 25 hours to 6:00 am on Tuesday (2200 GMT Monday), the defence ministry said in a statement -- the most for a single day.
Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard boats to encircle Taiwan on Monday, with Taiwan responding by dispatching "appropriate forces" and placing its outlying islands on heightened alert.
Taiwan condemned China's actions as "irrational and provocative", and the US called them "unwarranted".
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and insisted Monday it will never renounce the use of force to bring the island under its control.
Taiwan's defence ministry also recorded 14 Chinese navy ships in the latest 25-hour period, which was slightly fewer than the 17 it announced Monday afternoon.
Of the aircraft spotted, 111 crossed the median line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait that separates mainland China and Taiwan, the figures showed.
- 'Unwarranted' -
The United States said China's actions on Monday were "unwarranted" and risked "escalation" as it called on Beijing to act with restraint.
China said the drills, dubbed Joint Sword 2024B, were held in areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan.
Beijing declared them over by around 6:00 pm on Monday, about 13 hours after they started.
China said the exercises served as a "stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces".
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who took office in May, has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan's sovereignty, angering Beijing, which calls him a "separatist".
In his National Day speech on Thursday, Lai vowed to "resist annexation" and insisted that Beijing and Taipei were "not subordinate to each other".
Lai pledged Monday to "protect democratic Taiwan and safeguard national security".
In late May, three days after Lai's inauguration, China launched Joint Sword-2024A, an apparent precursor to the latest drills.
China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since then.
T.Barbieri--INP
