Taiwan dispatched fighter jets and naval vessels Tuesday to monitor a second Chinese "joint combat readiness patrol" near the island in the span of just seven days, as Taipei intensifies its guard over an escalating pattern of military pressure from Beijing.
Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected 21 Chinese aircraft — including J-16 fighters and drones — operating around the island alongside warships conducting what Beijing termed a "joint combat readiness patrol," Reuters reported.
China's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The patrol follows a near-identical Chinese "readiness patrol" conducted last Tuesday — the day before Taiwan President Lai Ching-te marked his second year in office, Reuters reported. Beijing detests Lai as a "separatist" and has rebuffed his multiple offers for dialogue.
Tensions have been building on multiple fronts. Over the weekend, Reuters reported that Taiwan's coast guard faced off with a Chinese coast guard vessel near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands, strategically positioned at the northern end of the South China Sea.
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Taiwan's National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu also took to social media on Saturday to flag the presence of 100 Chinese ships operating within the first island chain — the strategic arc running from Japan through Taiwan into the Philippines.
Taipei is, reportedly, on heightened alert following a meeting this month between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in Beijing, during which Taiwan was discussed.
China views the democratically governed island as its own territory, a claim Taipei firmly rejects.
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