Two Chinese military warplanes entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, as tensions between Beijing and Taipei have skyrocketed this month.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said it is the ninth intrusion by Chinese warplanes, Taiwan News reported.
A People's Liberation Army (PLA) KJ-500 airborne early warning and control plane and a Shaanxi Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft entered the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, according to the Ministry of National Defence (MND).
Taiwan sent aircraft in response, in addition to broadcasting radio warnings and deploying missile systems to monitor the PLA planes.
Tension between Beijing and Taipei has escalated manifold after nearly 150 Chinese military aircraft breached the airspace of Taiwan over a period of four days.
Over a four-day period beginning last Friday (October 1), Taiwan said that nearly 150 People's Liberation Army (PLA) military aircraft entered its air defence identification zone (ADIZ), part of a pattern of what Taipei calls Beijing's continued harassment of the nation, reported Taipei Times.
Military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years, Minister of National Defence Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday, days after record numbers of incursions by Chinese aircraft into Taiwan.
The incursions happened as Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing.
China has also threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war. On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.
( With inputs from ANI )
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