It is one of China's largest daily incursions into Taiwan to date.

Beijing has deployed 71 combat aircraft, including drones and fighter jets, in military maneuvers this weekend around Taiwan, the Taipei Defense Ministry said Monday (December 26th).

In a message posted on Twitter, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said 60 fighter jets took part in the exercises, including six SU-30s, among China's most advanced aircraft.

In this daily update, Taiwan further indicates that 47 of these planes entered the air defense zone (ADIZ) of the autonomous democratic island, which constitutes the third largest daily incursion recorded, according to the database. AFP data.

China said it conducted military exercises near Taiwan, which it claims, on Sunday in response to "provocations" and "collusion" between the United States and authorities on the island. 

China considers Taiwan, with a population of 24 million, to be one of its provinces, which it has yet to successfully reunify with the rest of its territory since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

She sees with dissatisfaction the rapprochement at work in recent years between the Taiwanese authorities and the United States, which has provided the island with military support against Beijing for several decades.

Under President Xi Jinping, Beijing has stepped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan as relations deteriorated.

More than 1,700 incursions in 2022

One of the means of pressure increasingly used by China is to fly over the air defense zone of Taiwan with its warplanes.

Since the start of the year, more than 1,700 such incursions have been recorded, compared to 969 in 2021 and 146 in 2020.

>> See also: Taiwan: how far will Chinese President Xi Jinping go?

Beijing did not specify the number of devices mobilized for the exercises on Sunday, nor the exact location of these maneuvers.

Data from the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense indicates that most of the incursions were in the southwestern tip of the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Some have also crossed the "median line" which runs along the Taiwan Strait and separates Taiwan from the mainland. 

Flights in the ADIZ are seen as a way to deplete Taiwan's aging fleet of fighter jets and study its defensive responses.

These zones are not identical to a country's airspace, but encompass a much larger area, in which any foreign aircraft are expected to report to local air authorities. 

Taiwan's ADIZ overlaps part of China's and even includes a portion of the mainland.

Taiwan's presidential office said President Tsai Ing-wen convened a high-level security council on Tuesday morning to discuss strengthening the island's civil defense system. 

"The more we prepare, the less likely we are to be the target of attempted serial attacks. The more united we are, the stronger and safer Taiwan will be," Tsai Ing-wen said Monday at a military ceremony. . 

China denounces "collusion" between Washington and Taipei

China's military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) said Sunday's maneuvers were "a firm response to the growing collusion between the United States and Taiwan authorities and their provocations." 

The rapprochement with Washington, begun under ex-US President Donald Trump, has helped strain Sino-US relations, as the United States has formally pledged to recognize the communist government in Beijing as China's sole legitimate representative. 

On Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed its "firm opposition" after the adoption of a US defense law, the "National Defense Authorization Act", which notably authorizes 10 billion dollars in military aid and sales. weapons in Taiwan.

The Chinese authorities favor "peaceful reunification" with the island but have never renounced the use of force to conquer it, especially if it declares its independence.

With AFP

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