Nearly 66 Chinese aircraft surround Taiwan in biggest sortie of year
Taiwan's defence ministry said Thursday it had detected 66 Chinese military aircraft around the island in a 24-hour window, a record-high this year, a day after it said Beijing was conducting exercises in nearby waters.
China claims self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will never renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.
Thursday's record follows Taipei a day earlier spotting Chinese aircraft around the island that it said were headed to the western Pacific for exercises with the PLA aircraft carrier Shandong.
«66 PLA aircraft and seven PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 am (2200 GMT Wednesday) today,» the defence ministry said in Thursday's statement.
Fifty-six of the aircraft crossed the sensitive median line bisecting the Taiwan Strait — a narrow 180-kilometre (110-mile) waterway separating the island from China.
The ministry added it had «monitored the situation and responded accordingly».
An illustration it released showed some of the aircraft came within 33 nautical miles (61 km) of Taiwan's southern tip.
The year's previous record was in May, when Beijing sent 62 military aircraft and 27 naval vessels around Taiwan.
That occurred in the middle of war games Beijing launched on the heels of the inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who Beijing regards as a «dangerous separatist».
Military expert Su Tzu-yun said China's latest show of force was a reaction to recent political developments, including Washington's new de
