Taiwan announced that 18 Chinese fighters penetrated its airspace from the southwest, and the Taiwan Defense Ministry said that the air force rushed to warn the planes that entered the air defense zone on Friday.

The ministry said that the latest incursion involved 6 Chinese J-11 aircraft, 6 J-16 fighters, in addition to two H-6 bombers. -6).

In recent months, Beijing has repeatedly sent hundreds of military aircraft to the air defense zone bordering Taiwan's airspace.

Taiwan, which China claims, complains about is the repetition of such missions by Chinese planes, which have become commonplace for the past two years or so.

Observers believe that Taiwan is on high alert due to fears that China will take advantage of the Russian war on Ukraine to make a similar military move on the island, although the Taipei government has not announced any indications that Beijing is about to launch an attack.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Defense Ministry.

Beijing has described previous such missions as a way to defend the country's sovereignty and counter "collusion" with foreign forces, a reference to US support for Taiwan.