New record figure

China encircles Taiwan with 66 fighter jets

The situation around Taiwan is tense.

(Bild: AFP/Handout)

During the NATO summit in the USA, China appears to be holding more military exercises off Taiwan. By early this morning (local time), the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense had recorded 66 military aircraft around its island over the past 24 hours, a record number for this year.

56 of them had flown over the unofficial center line in the strait between China and Taiwan (Taiwan Strait), according to the authority. The fighter planes entered Taiwan's air defense zone (ADIZ) - not to be confused with its airspace - from the north, southwest and southeast.

Taiwan also noted seven People's Liberation Army naval vessels around the island republic, which China considers a renegade province and wants to reconnect to the mainland. However, Taiwan has been led by a democratically elected government for decades.

Sabre-rattling is getting louder
President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party, which is in favor of Taiwanese independence, see Beijing as separatists. The People's Republic has repeatedly threatened to enforce "reunification" by military means.

If Chinese fighter jets penetrate Taiwan's ADIZ, the armed forces must react, for example by sending up their own military aircraft. A day earlier, the Ministry of Defense had reported an increased number of Chinese military aircraft over the center line in the Taiwan Strait. These had flown towards the Western Pacific and accompanied the Chinese aircraft carrier "Shandong" during an exercise.

The previous peak at the end of May was 62 fighter planes, which held an exercise around Taiwan shortly after Lai's inauguration. The current exercise is taking place during the NATO summit in Washington, at which the military alliance took a tougher stance against China and accused Beijing of aiding and abetting Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.