In its daily update on the PLA's operations, the defense ministry detailed a surge in Chinese warplane activity around the island during Monday's military exercises, officially called a response to Taiwan President William Lai's Oct. 10 National Day speech. The 153 aircraft mobilized increased a figure of 125 released Monday evening, which the ministry had previously said was a single-day record. Of those, 28 crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait , according to a map released by the ministry, an unofficial demarcation that has served to avoid misunderstandings in the past, despite China never recognizing it.

Other areas of activity included Taiwan's southeast coast, home to a major air base, and southwest in the upper South China Sea, where Taipei's Pratas Islands are located. Also spotted were 14 Chinese navy warships (down from an estimate of 17 earlier on Tuesday) and 12 "official ships," built by coast guard units and other military vessels.

Speaking to the media in Taipei, Premier Cho Jung-tai noted that China's military exercises were not just a Taiwan issue: " Any unannounced exercises would cause serious disturbances to peace and stability in the entire region . China's exercises not only affect Taiwan's neighborhood, but also affect the entire international navigation law and air and sea space, thus attracting the attention of other countries."

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims that the island is an "inalienable" and "sacred" part of its territory that can be reunified by force, saying that only the island's people can decide its own future.

Concern is also growing in Japan over the Chinese exercises, so much so that Deputy Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiro Aoki added that fighter planes had been taken off the island of Yonaguni, just over 220 kilometres east of Taiwan .

(Unioneonline / r. sp.)

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