103 Warplanes in 24 Hours: China Aggressively Drills Near Taiwan

(AmericanProsperity.com) – Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a September 18 statement that the Chinese regime sent 103 of its military warplanes toward the democratic island. The ministry explained this happened in 24 hours, in what it it described as the maximum amount of warplanes China has sent in a day over the last few decades.

The ministry pointed out that the Chinese planes were detected by Taiwanese radars between 6 am on September 17 and 6 am on September 18 local time. It also noted that there were no injuries or deaths as the planes turned back before reaching the island, as these have been doing in recent times as part of Beijing’s strategy to threaten Taiwan.

The Chinese regime, which claims the island as part of its territory, has been conducting large military exercises on water and air around Taiwan, as tensions have been escalating between the two Asian nations and the United States. Since the 1950s, Taiwan declared itself as a sovereign state, with Washington as its main supporter and arms supplier. Analysts believe this support has been crucial, as Washington has repeatedly declared its opposition to any attempt to change the democratic island’s status by force.

In the statement, the island’s Defense Ministry pointed out that 40 of the Chinese warplanes crossed the Taiwan Strait, which is a symbolic halfway point between the democratic island and mainland China. The ministry also reported nine naval war vessels over the last 24 hours, deploying “threatening maneuvers.”

In the final part of the statement, Taiwan’s ministry said that the actions taken by the Chinese military could be considered an “harassment.” It also claimed these “irresponsible” actions could escalate the diplomatic conflict that both parties have been dealing with over the last few decades. The ministry then urged the Chinese regime to stop these “destructive military activities” as soon as possible and to bear responsibility for preventing an “unwanted” scenario both for Beijing and Taipei.