Taiwan reports surrounded by 153 Chinese military aircraft during drills

Exercises raise regional tension warns Taipei; US slams war games as it launches drills with Philippines.

Taiwan detected 153 aircraft surrounding its territory as China carried out massive military exercises, according to the self-ruled island’s defence ministry.

The “surge in warplane activity” saw a record number of aircraft spotted in the 25 hours to 6am on Tuesday (22:00 GMT, Monday), the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement. China’s war games have once more raised tensions with the island and across the region, it noted.

Beijing deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coastguard ships to encircle Taiwan on Monday. Taipei said it responded by dispatching “appropriate forces” and placing its outlying islands on heightened alert.

The defence ministry said 90 of the Chinese aircraft were spotted within Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.

‘Nonsense’

Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory and has said it would never rule out using force to take it.

China said the one-day drill, designated “Joint Sword-2024B”, was a warning against “separatist acts”. The war games followed a National Day speech last week by Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te that Beijing had denounced.

Lai said in the speech that China has no right to represent Taiwan and declared his commitment to “resist annexation or encroachment”.

“This is a resolute punishment for Lai Ching-te’s continuous fabrication of ‘Taiwan independence’ nonsense,” China’s Taiwan affairs office said in a statement.

Attracting attention

Taiwan’s Premier Cho Jung-tai stated that the manoeuvres were not only a concern for Taipei, but for the entire region.

“Any drills without prior warning will cause great disturbance to peace and stability in the entire region,” he told reporters. “China’s drills not only affect Taiwan’s neighbourhood, but also seriously affect the entire international navigational rights and air and sea space, so attracted the attention of other countries.”

Taiwan’s Office of the President called on China to “cease military provocations that undermine regional peace and stability and stop threatening Taiwan’s democracy and freedom”.

The United States, an ally to the self-ruled island, noted its concern, even as it launched its own war games in the disputed South China Sea.

The Pentagon slammed China’s drills as “irresponsible, disproportionate, and destabilising”.

However, thousands of US and Philippine marines launched 10 days of joint exercises in the Philippines, which is also locked in dispute with China, on Tuesday.

The exercises are focused on defending the north coast of the main Philippine island of Luzon, which lies about 800km (500 miles) from Taiwan.