9 Chinese warships, 26 aircraft detected near Island: Taiwan MoD
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This comes a day after Beijing declared an end to its massive war games.
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A Chinese warship fires toward the shore during a military drill near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, April 8, 2023. (Reuters)
Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported that it had detected 9 Chinese warships and 26 aircraft around the island on Monday.
This comes a day after Beijing declared an end to its massive war games.
China began three days of military drills around Taiwan on Saturday, simulating targeted attacks and practicing an island blockade.
"There are 8 vessels still operating in the waters surrounding Taiwan," the Defense Ministry said in a statement, stressing that it was closely monitoring the situation.
On the final day of the drills, the Ministry reported detecting 91 aircraft and 12 Chinese vessels in the area of the island, with 54 of the aircraft entering Taiwan's southwest and southeast so-called "air defense identification zone (ADIZ)."
The big picture
China launched Saturday military drills around Taiwan in a stern warning to the Taiwanese government following a meeting between the island's leader and the US House speaker.
Operation United Sharp Sword lasted for three days, Chinese media reported. It included rehearsals on an encirclement of the Island off the coast of China, the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command revealed.
The military drills were swiftly denounced by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Tsai, who pledged to work with "the US and other like-minded countries" against "continued authoritarian expansionism."
China's drills saw Beijing sending planes, ships, and personnel into "the maritime areas and air space of the Taiwan Strait, off the northern and southern coasts of the island, and to the island's east," Shi Yin, a PLA spokesperson said.
This comes amid a period of tension with China heightened by a meeting between Tsai and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, during a stopover by the Taiwan leader in the United States.
McCarthy was planning on visiting Taipei himself rather than receiving Tsai in California. But the decision to change the plan came to allegedly avoid escalation with China.
Tsai, who was on an official visit to Latin America, made two stopovers in the US during which she met with house speaker McCarthy and other legislators.
The announcement regarding the drills comes a day after Chinese warships patrolled near Taiwan for the second consecutive day.
The United States, which had repeatedly fueled tensions with China, on Monday sent the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer through contested parts of the South China Sea.
The deployment triggered condemnation from China, which said the vessel had "illegally intruded" into its territorial waters.
Read more: China sees Tsai's US stop 'provocation', US urges no 'overreaction'
