MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2023) The Taiwanese army detected 37 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft entering Taiwan's southwest airspace on Thursday, the island's defense ministry said.
"Since 0500 (10:00 GMT) (UTC+8) today (Jun. 8), 37 PLA aircraft, including J-11, J-16, H-6, YU-20, and AWACS, have successively entered Taiwan's SW airspace," the ministry tweeted.
It added that several warplanes entered the Western Pacific through Taiwan's southeastern airspace to conduct long-range aerial reconnaissance training.
Taiwan's armed forces are closely monitoring the situation and have dispatched military aircraft, naval vessels and land-based missile systems in response to the incident, the ministry said.
Earlier in the day, the ministry tweeted that 12 PLA aircraft and 4 ships had been detected near Taiwan from 6 a.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday (10:00 GMT Wednesday - 9:00 GMT Thursday).
The situation around Taiwan recently escalated again after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in April, with Beijing launching massive three-day military drills near the island in what it called a "warning" to Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing regards the island as its province, while Taiwan maintains that it is an autonomous entity but stops short of declaring independence. Beijing opposes any official foreign contacts with Taipei and regards Chinese sovereignty over the island as indisputable.
