China’s military said on Sunday that, for the second time in less than a month, it had conducted combat exercises around Taiwan focused on ground attacks and attacks from the sea, while the island said it had detected more than 50 Chinese aircraft.
The exercises, the Chinese military said in a brief statement, were meant to test joint combat capabilities and “resolutely counter provocative actions by external powers and pro-Taiwan independence separatist forces.”
China’s military escalation
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported that 57 Chinese aircraft and four ships had operated around Taiwan in the past 24 hours. Among these planes, 28 penetrated the island’s air defense zone, he said.
Beijing considers the independent island to belong to its territory and does not rule out using force to bring it back into its fold.
Taipei said in late December that 43 Chinese planes crossed the center line of the Taiwan Strait, an unprecedented incursion that comes amid China’s intensified military drills over the past three years.
Source: BFM TV
