Taiwanese officials said 21 Chinese military aircraft violated Taiwan's air defense zone as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began her visit to the self-ruled island amid a dispute with Beijing.

The island's defense ministry said in a statement on Twitter: "21 PLA aircraft ... entered #Taiwan's southwest ADIZ on August 2, 2022," referring to the air defense identification zone.

The ADIZ is not the same as Taiwan's territorial airspace but includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China's own air defense identification zone and even includes some of the mainland.