TAIPEI: Taiwan’s defense ministry has said that it had detected 41 Chinese military aircraft around the island in a 24-hour window, a day following China said “diehard” advocates of Taiwan’s independence could face the death penalty.
Beijing claims self-ruled democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and stated it would never reject the use of force to bring it under China’s control.
Beijing has stepped up pressure on Taipei in recently and held war games around the island after last month’s inauguration of new leader Lai Ching-te. Taipei’s ministry of defense claimed 32 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait. It added that it had also “monitored the current situation and also responded accordingly.
The latest incursion came following China published judicial guidelines Friday that included the death penalty for “particularly serious” cases of “diehard” supporters of Taiwanese independence, Chinese media reported.
On May 25, Taiwan had detected around 62 Chinese military aircraft near the island in a 24-hour window, the highest single-day total this year, as China held military drills after the inauguration of Lai, who China regards as a “dangerous separatist.”
