Taiwan’s defence ministry on Thursday said it has registered dozens of Chinese military aircraft and a handful of vessels around its shores.

The ministry on Thursday said it detected 68 Chinese warplanes and 10 vessels in 24 hours.

As of 6:00 a.m. on Thursday (2200 GMT Wednesday), 40 of the detected aircraft, including fighter jets and drones, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s south-western and south-eastern air space, the ministry said.

The ministry said Taiwan had tasked Combat air patrol aircraft, Navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.

Taiwan regularly reports such actions by Chinese forces.

This time, however, the number of planes was relatively high compared with previous events.

China has ramped up air and sea incursions around Taiwan since the beginning of the week.

On Wednesday, Taiwan said 27 Chinese aircraft and 13 vessels were detected in the previous 24 hours.

The numbers were 22 and 20 on Tuesday, while Monday was 26 and 13.

In early September, the number of Chinese aircraft and vessels detected daily by Taiwan was under 10.

Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the self-ruled democracy part of its territory.

(dpa/NAN)