32 Chinese warplanes spotted around Taiwan

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that 32 Chinese military planes were detected around the island in a 24-hour window, the second-highest number of such aircraft this year.

In the 24 hours leading up to 6 a.m. on Thursday, five naval ships were also detected operating around Taiwan, the ministry said in a statement, adding that 20 of the aircraft “crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait.”

Taiwan’s armed forces have “monitored the situation and employed [patrol] aircraft, navy vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities,” it said.

In two other 24-hour periods in late January and early February, the ministry detected 33 Chinese warplanes around the island.

Those detections followed Taiwan’s January 13 leadership election, won by current deputy leader Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing dislikes.

Lai and his running mate Hsiao Bi-khim of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will take office on May 20.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Tuesday slammed Hsiao over her visit to the Czech Republic, saying it served “the purpose of Taiwan independence ... and is unhelpful for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

Last month, Taiwan reported detecting 11 Chinese naval vessels around the island, the most this year, as a row between Taipei and Beijing over a fatal fishing boat incident simmered.

A Chinese speedboat carrying four people capsized near Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands while being pursued by the Taiwanese coast guard on February 14, killing two of the four.

This incident occurred against a backdrop of growing tensions between China and Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of its territory to be retaken one day by force, if necessary.

Beijing has accused Taiwanese authorities of “seeking to evade their responsibilities and hide the truth” about the incident, while a Taiwanese coast guard official has said the boat involved was zigzagging and “lost its balance” before capsizing.

China has said it will step up patrols around Kinmen following a number of deadly incidents, including the sinking of another boat in the area this month that claimed the lives of two crew members.

Taiwan detected a record eight Chinese balloons on two consecutive days during the Lunar New Year holiday last month, with some flying directly over the island.

Beijing has ramped up military pressure in recent years, and deploys warplanes and naval vessels around the island nearly daily, with balloons also increasingly flying over it.