China sent 18 warplanes and four naval vessels into the waters and airspace around Taiwan, Taipei's military said Monday, after the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps held joint exercises in the South China Sea over the weekend.
Eleven aircraft, including four Chengdu J-10 fighter planes, two Shenyang J-11 fighter jets and two Shenyang J-16 jet fighters, crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said Monday morning.
Taipei dispatched aircraft and naval vessels to respond and monitored the Chinese craft with land-based missile systems, the ministry said.
China considers the democratic island of 23 million a wayward province and has vowed to seize control of it by force if necessary. Taiwan has never been a part of the mainland People's Republic of China, which was founded in 1949, and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.
Incursions by Chinese aircraft and ships have become a commonplace occurrence in recent years, a tactic that Taiwan's military calls "gray zone" warfare meant to strain the island's defense capabilities and wear down its morale.
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