The announcement was made by Taiwan’s defence ministry on Wednesday that during joint exercises with an aircraft carrier in the western Pacific, it detected 37 Chinese aircraft the AFP said.
“At around 9:30 a.m. today (0130 GMT), our Ministry of National Defense reported a total of 37 Chinese aircraft since 0520,” Taiwan announced.
36 flew over the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, which separates China from Taiwan.
According to a defense ministry press release, they “flew into our southern and southeastern airspace en route to the Western Pacific where they will conduct joint sea and air training with the Shandong aircraft carrier.”
Defence minister Wellington Koo noted that unlike other Chinese ships heading to the Pacific Ocean through the Bashi Channel, Shandong didn’t go this way.
“It has gone even further southwards through the Balingtang Channel towards the Western Pacific,” he explained.
Recently, China has stepped up military and political pressure on Taiwan and not ruled out using force against it.
