Taipei, September 18

China’s military sent 103 warplanes toward Taiwan in a 24-hour period in what the island’s defence ministry called a recent new high.

The planes were detected between 6 am on Sunday and 6 am on Monday, the ministry said. As is customary, they turned back before reaching Taiwan.

Says no median line

• Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said 40 of the planes crossed the symbolic median line between mainland China and the island
• But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said there is no such thing as a ‘median line’ because Taiwan is part of Chinese territory

Chinese warplanes fly toward the self-governing island on a near-daily basis but typically in smaller numbers. The Taiwan ministry didn’t explain what time period it meant by a “recent” high.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has conducted increasingly large military drills in the air and waters around Taiwan as tensions have grown between the two and with the United States.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry ministry called the Chinese military action “harassment” that it warned could escalate in the current tense atmosphere. — AP