China Sends 71 Jets, 7 Ships To Menace Taiwan

China sent 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force, Taiwan’s defense ministry said after China expressed anger at Taiwan-related provisions in a US annual defense spending bill recently passed, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Photo Insert: Taiwan said it monitored the Chinese moves through its land-based missile systems, as well as on its own navy vessels.

China’s military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it claims is its own territory, has intensified in recent years, and the Communist Party’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sent planes or ships toward the island on a near-daily basis.

Between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, 47 of the Chinese planes crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, the US News & World Reports (USNWR) said.

Among the planes China sent toward Taiwan were 18 J-16 fighter jets, 11 J-1 fighters, 6 Su-30 fighters, and drones. Taiwan said it monitored the Chinese moves through its land-based missile systems, as well as on its own navy vessels.

“This is a firm response to the current US-Taiwan escalation and provocation,” said Shi Yi, the spokesman for the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command, in a statement on Sunday night. It announced that the PLA was holding joint combat patrols and joint strike drills in the waters around Taiwan.

Shi was referring to the US defense spending bill, which calls China a strategic challenge. With regard to the Indo-Pacific region, the legislation authorizes increased security cooperation with Taiwan and requires expanded cooperation with India on emerging defense technologies, readiness, and logistics.

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