Taiwan reports a record number of Chinese warplanes detected during NATO summit

Taiwan has stated it is closely monitoring China’s military activities after detecting a record number of Chinese warplanes near the island within a 24-hour period this year, coinciding with the NATO summit in Washington, DC.

In a statement on Thursday, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence reported that “66 PLA aircraft and seven PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6am [22:00 GMT Wednesday] today.”

Of those, 56 aircraft crossed the sensitive median line that divides the 180-kilometre (112-mile) waterway separating the self-governing island from mainland China, the ministry noted.

The Defence Ministry also released two photos of a Chinese J-16 fighter and a nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, stating they were taken recently.

“The military has a detailed grasp of the activities in the seas and waters around the Taiwan Strait, including the Chinese communists’ aircraft and ships,” said ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang.

On Wednesday, Taiwanese officials announced that China’s Shandong aircraft carrier had passed near the Philippines en route to military exercises in the Pacific.

The Philippine military confirmed reports of a China-Russia exercise occurring in the Philippine Sea, without directly referencing the Shandong.

Taiwan, considered by Beijing as part of its territory, has noted a significant increase in Chinese military activity in recent years, as Beijing aims to pressure the island’s Democratic Progressive Party government, which promotes strengthening Taiwanese identity and closer international relations.

Beijing has labeled Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te a “dangerous separatist” and has asserted that the island should be “reunified” with the Chinese mainland by force if necessary.

In a communique released on Wednesday, NATO leaders stated that China has acted as a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war against Ukraine and poses systemic challenges to Europe and its security. A spokesperson for the Chinese mission to the European Union accused NATO of “hyping up the so-called China threat” and described the declaration as full of “obvious lies and smears.”