66 Chinese fighter jets infiltrated Taiwan in one day

Last Updated on July 12, 2024 9:07 am

At least 66 warplanes have patrolled the island nation of Taiwan in the past 24 hours. Which is the highest so far this year. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed the matter on Thursday. This information is known from the report of AFP.

According to an AFP report, just one day before this incident, Beijing also conducted military exercises near Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement that 66 aircraft of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and 7 ships of People’s Liberation Army (Navy) patrolled around Taiwan until 6:00 a.m. today. Taipei also said it had taken action accordingly after seeing the planes and ships.

At the end of last May, China conducted exercises around Taiwan, an island located in the South China Sea. Citing multiple unnamed Taiwanese sources, Reuters reported at the time that China was testing its ability to occupy Taiwan through this exercise. Even China has made this claim. However, China also said the exercise was being conducted to “punish” Taiwan’s newly elected President Lai Ching-te and his country.

China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has already labeled the country’s newly elected president William Lai as a “separatist”. China strongly protested William Lai’s speech immediately after taking office as president. In his speech, Lai urged Taiwan not to threaten Beijing. At that time, he said, neither of the two countries (China and Taiwan) on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are subordinate to anyone.

Earlier, at least 32 Chinese warplanes conducted exercises around Taiwan last March. In January and February of this year, 33 Chinese warplanes conducted maneuvers around Taiwan in a 24-hour period. Which is the highest this year. In January, Chinese warplanes conducted the exercises shortly after the election of William Lai or Lai Ching in Taiwan’s presidential election.

In February, Taipei reported that 11 Chinese warships conducted exercises around Taiwan. In addition, the number of Chinese balloons flying over Taiwan’s airspace has also increased in the past few months. Eight Chinese balloons entered Taiwan’s airspace on two consecutive days during the Chinese New Year holiday.