A total of 22 Chinese planes and six military ships made incursions into areas around Taiwan on Sunday, the island’s Defense Ministry said today.
The incursions, according to a statement quoted by the Taiwanese news agency CNA, coincided with the arrival of a delegation of US congressmen who are meeting with representatives of the Taiwanese government during the visit.
The trip by lawmakers comes 12 days after the leader of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, Nancy Pelosi, visited the territory, which outraged Beijing.
According to the Defense Ministry, 10 of the Chinese planes crossed a line in the Strait of Formosa that has served as an unofficial border tacitly respected by Taipei and Beijing in recent decades, but crossed in recent weeks by Chinese forces during military maneuvers.
The island’s air force monitored the situation with combat air and naval patrols and activation of land-based missile systems, the ministry said.
China responded to Pelosi’s visit, which it called “farce” and “deplorable betrayal”, with trade sanctions imposed on the island and military exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan, which Taipei described as a “blockade”.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, an island it has considered a rebellious province since Kuomintang nationalists took refuge there in 1949 after losing the civil war against the Communists.
