On Monday, Taiwan said that it had detected 39 Chinese warplanes and an aircraft carrier near the island after a US destroyer and a Canadian frigate transited through the Taiwan Strait over the weekend.
According to Taiwan’s defense ministry between Sunday and Monday morning, 26 aircraft and 13 warships were driving around the island, while another 13 aircraft were detected since the early hours of Monday
Chinese Shandong carrier was also detected on Monday around 60 nautical miles southeast of Taiwanese southernmost tip Eluanbi, flowing eastward and entering the Western Pacific for exercise, the ministry added.
China declared Taiwan as its region and has pledged to capture it one day.
In current years, China has increased military and political pressure on Taiwan, constantly operating naval drills or sending warplanes buzzing overhead to coincide with any diplomatic engagements with Taipei.
Taipei said 22 of the 39 aircraft it had recently detected crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, a little channel between Taiwan and Beijing.
The Taiwanese defense ministry said in a statement that the military is closely watching the situation and has assigned aircraft, navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond.
On Saturday, Beijing said its armies were “on continuous high alert” after the two vessels belonging to the United States and Canada voyaged through the Taiwan Strait.
The vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and HMCS Ottawa, and the transit shows the commitment of the United States and our supporters and associates to a free and open Indo-Pacific, the US Navy said.
