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China sends dozens of warplanes towards Taiwan as US urges restraint amid military drills
![China sends dozens of warplanes towards Taiwan as US urges restraint amid military drills]()
President Tsai Ing-wen listens to a briefing on national security in Taipei China sends dozens of warplanes towards Taiwan as US urges restraint amid military drills
Show of force comes after Taiwanese president Tsai met US House speaker McCarthy this week
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it was monitoring the movements of China’s missile forces, as the US said it too was on alert.
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sent 70 war planes, including fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, and refuellers, into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Sunday morning, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry. It did not provide a map or locations, but said 31 planes had crossed the median line – the de facto border in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China.
The PLA had announced the immediate start to three days of drills on Saturday morning. By 7pm that evening it had sent 71 war planes and eight ships into Taiwan’s ADIZ with almost 60 crossing the median line.
