TAIPEI, Feb 9: Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported that 14 Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft and 6 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels were detected around Taiwan as of 6 am local time (UTC+8) today.
Nine of these aircraft crossed the median line and entered the island nation's northern and southwestern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).
"14 PLA aircraft and 6 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 9 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's northern and southwestern ADIZ. We have monitored the situation and responded accordingly," said the MND report.
Earlier on Saturday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported that 11 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval vessels were detected near the island until 6 am (UTC+8). Of these, nine aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the northern and southwestern parts of Taiwan's Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ).
The ministry also detected one Chinese balloon during this period.
In recent weeks, China has visibly increased its capacity to conduct amphibious assaults on Taiwan's beaches with new naval equipment. This included the formal launch of an advanced landing helicopter assault (LHA) vessel, unique in the world, and the mass production of floating bridge docks to aid ship unloading during beach landings. (ANI)
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