China sent 38 warplanes to the area on Friday, and 39 planes Saturday. This is the largest single-day flight since Taiwan started releasing reports about the flights in September 2020. It was unclear if China planned to fly more on Sunday night.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, stated that China’s military activities near Taiwan could lead to miscalculations and threaten regional stability and peace.
The statement stated that Beijing should cease all diplomatic, military, and economic pressures and coercion against Taiwan.
The government also stated that the United States, Taiwan’s largest supplier of arms, would continue its support to the government’s ability to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.
China and Taiwan split in 1949 in civil war. The Communists took control in mainland China, while the rival Nationalists established a government in Taiwan. Taiwan is an island of 24,000,000 people located 160 km (100 miles) from the east coast.
For more than a decade, China has sent military planes into the region south of Taiwan quite frequently. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry stated that 12 fighter jets and four military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification area on Sunday.
