Officials in Taiwan say 39 Chinese military aircraft and three vessels entered an area near the island on Thursday morning local time.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense says the planes and vessels were located at 6 am, adding that it is closely monitoring them.
“39 PLA aircraft and 3 PLAN ships around Taiwan were detected today at 6 am (UTC+8). 30 of the detected aircraft crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait and entered southwest and southeast Taiwan ADIZ Forces. ROC navies have monitored the situation and assigned CAP aircraft, navy ships and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities,” the statement read.
FILE – In this undated file photo released by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, a Chinese PLA J-16 fighter jet flies at an undisclosed location.
(Taiwan Ministry of Defense via AP)
On Wednesday morning, 11 Chinese military aircraft and three ships were seen entering an area near the island.
TAIWAN SURVEILLANCE OF CHINESE MILITARY PLANES AND SHIPS NEAR ISLAND; DEPLOY AIRCRAFT, VESSELS TO RESPOND
Taiwanese government officials are under the impression that China is trying to create a pretext for an attack on the island.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told The Guardian that China was “getting more serious than ever.”
Chinese military helicopters fly over Pingtan Island, one of mainland China’s closest points to Taiwan, in Fujian province on Aug. 4, 2022, ahead of mass military drills off Taiwan following a visit by the president of the House of Representatives of the United States, Nancy Pelosi, to the autonomous island.
(Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
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“And we’re pretty sure the Chinese may want to use another pretext to practice their future attacks on Taiwan. So this is a military threat against Taiwan,” Wu told The Guardian.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
