Twenty-One Chinese Aircraft, 5 Ships Spotted Around Taiwan On Wednesday

Twenty-One Chinese Aircraft, 5 Ships Spotted Around Taiwan on Wednesday

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent 21 aircraft and five warships to Taiwan on Wednesday, the Taiwanese defense ministry said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2022) The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) sent 21 aircraft and five warships to Taiwan on Wednesday, the Taiwanese defense ministry said on Wednesday.

"5 PLAN (People's Liberation Army Navy) vessels and 21 PLA aircraft around our surrounding region were detected today," the ministry said on Twitter.

Five PLA aircraft, including two Su-30 fighters, two J-11 fighters, and one Y-8 electronic intelligence aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the ministry added.

Taiwan sent an air patrol to monitor the situation, issued radio warnings, and deployed anti-aircraft missile systems, the ministry said.

Taiwan became alienated from Beijing after becoming a stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang) that suffered defeat to the Communist Party in a civil war in 1949. The Chinese mainland and the island resumed business and informal contacts in the late 1980s. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign countries with Taiwan and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.

The visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in early August triggered a new round of tensions in the Taiwan Strait and in the region. On August 4, Beijing launched large-scale military exercises in the vicinity of the island, which included live-fire drills and military aircraft overflights close to Taiwan's airspace.