The Defence Ministry of Taiwan said on August 10 that China has dispatched naval vessels and a big group of fighter planes towards Taiwan in an effort to maintain military pressure on the island.
As a response to Taiwan’s political actions, China often sends planes towards the self-governed island, which it claims as its own territory. It has also been sending naval warships and drones to patrol the seas around the island for the last year.
According to Taiwan’s Defence Ministry, between 6 a.m. on August 9 and 6 a.m. on August 10, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army sent 33 aeroplanes and six naval vessels. Fighter planes from the J-10 and J-16 fleets crossed the international dateline and headed southwest towards Taiwan.
In a statement released earlier on Wednesday, the Ministry said that in tandem with the flights of the fighter planes, Taiwanese military personnel monitored the movements of five of the ships.
According to the Ministry, land-based missile systems were utilised to keep tabs on the planes, ten of which crossed the centerline of the Taiwan Strait, an informal limit that had served as a buffer between the island and the mainland.
As Chinese military pressure rises, Taiwan has been stocking up on weaponry and fighter planes to protect itself. Portable air defence systems, information and surveillance capabilities, weapons, and missiles are just some of the items included in the $345 million package of sales the United States announced in July for Taiwan.
