Taiwan says dozens of Chinese military jets have flown into its air defence zone in the last two days - the largest incursion by Beijing to date.
Taiwan's defence ministry said 38 planes, including nuclear-capable bombers, entered the area in two waves on Friday.
A further 20 planes flew through on Saturday, the ministry said.
China sees democratic Taiwan as a breakaway province, but Taiwan sees itself as a sovereign state.
Taiwan has been complaining for more than a year about repeated missions by China's air force near the island.
"China has been wantonly engaged in military aggression, damaging regional peace," Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters on Saturday.
The government in Beijing - which is marking 72 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China - has so far made no public comment.
But it has previously said such flights were to protect its sovereignty and also targeted "collusion" between Taiwan and the US.
n a statement on Friday, Taiwan's defence ministry said 25 People's Liberation Army (PLA) planes entered the south-western part of the air defence identification zone (ADIZ) during daylight hours, flying near the Pratas Islands atoll.
An air defence identification zone is an area outside of a country's territory and national airspace - but where foreign aircraft are still identified, monitored, and controlled in the interest of national security
This was followed by a second wave of 13 Chinese aircraft in the same area on Friday evening. They flew over waters between Taiwan and the Philippines.
Taiwan responded by scrambling its jets and deploying missile systems.
The ministry said the Chinese aircraft included four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, as well as an anti-submarine aircraft.
Beijing often launches such missions to express displeasure at comments made by Taiwan.
I’m Taking a Trip:
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There’s still room on this flight and I hope you’ll be coming, but you’ll need to hurry, as a standby is filling up fast. The Red Eye too, time is running out. Be ready to depart in an instant. And keep watch on the overhead screen, because you do not know what time or what gate we are gonna depart from.
A new name will be given to me in this new country, so my name tag will change, but you will still be able to recognize me by my beaming smile.
“Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
—1 Thessalonians 4:17
—Sandy from Minneapolis Minnesota
Love that!! Thankyou
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ReplyDelete