The Taiwanese defense ministry Friday reported that China’s military conducted a substantial air display comprising 38 fighter jets and other combat aircraft in the proximity of Taiwan.
This notable demonstration marks the largest airborne deployment observed since China’s extensive military maneuvers in early April, in which it simulated an operation aimed at blockading the island nation.
Naval vessels were also seen in the area as part of China’s long-running campaign of intimidation against Taiwan.
Later Friday, China’s People’s Liberation Army protested the flight of a United States Navy P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine patrol aircraft through the Taiwan Strait, separating mainland China from the self-governing island democracy claimed by Beijing.
Calling Thursday’s flight a provocation that the U.S. "openly hyped up," the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command said it scrambled fighter jets to monitor the plane’s flight.
Such acts "fully prove that the U.S. is a disruptor of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and a creator of security risks," the statement said. "Theater troops maintain a high level of alert at all times and resolutely defend national sovereignty and security as well as regional peace and stability."
The U.S. 7th Fleet said Thursday’s flight was by international law and "demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific."
"The United States will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows including within the Taiwan Strait," the statement read.
Despite lacking formal diplomatic ties, the U.S. remains Taiwan’s closest military and political ally. U.S. law requires Washington to treat all threats to the island as "grave concern."
However, it remains ambiguous over whether American forces would be dispatched to help defend the island.
Beijing has threatened to bring Taiwan under its control by force if necessary. Moreover, China’s intensely nationalistic leader Xi Jinping has sworn never to give up "a single inch" of territory claimed by his country. This pledge applies to Taiwan, the disputed border with India, and the South China Sea that China claims almost entirely.
In addition to the latest Chinese warplane flights, Chinese navy vessels were spotted in the area from 6:00 a.m. Thursday to 6:00 a.m. Friday, the island’s Defense Ministry said.
Nineteen of the aircraft flew across the midline in the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from the mainland, the ministry said. It said they included five SU-30, two J-16 fighter jets, and one drone: A large, long-endurance TB-001 Scorpion capable of carrying various bombs and missiles that circled the island in a relatively rare move, according to a diagram from the Defense Ministry.
It wasn’t clear what, if anything, prompted the large-scale Chinese action, but China’s efforts to train for a potential attack, wear down the island’s military and impact Taiwan’s politics have become increasingly ambitious.
U.S. military officials recently said they are increasingly concerned that a massive buildup in China’s military capabilities makes the potential for a conflict more likely.
China held exercises simulating the sealing off of the island after the sensitive April 5 meeting between Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.
China opposes any exchanges at the official level between Taiwan and other governments.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the Communist Party controlling the mainland. The island has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing says it must unite with the mainland by force if necessary.