China sent 22 fighter jets across the "median line" running down the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, Taipei's defence ministry said in its latest briefing on large-scale military drills conducted by Beijing's forces.

The Ministry of National Defense said "air defense missile systems" were deployed to track the jets and radio warnings were broadcast, according to an update on its website.

The median line is an unofficial but largely adhered to border that runs down the middle of the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China.

It is rare for military jets to cross it.

Over the last two years, Beijing has ramped up military incursions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

The ADIZ is not the same as Taiwan's territorial airspace but includes a far greater area that overlaps with part of China's own air defence identification zone and even includes some of the mainland.

The vast majority of China's ADIZ flights occur off the southwestern edge of Taiwan.

But there has been a major increase in median line incursions after Beijing announced huge military drills to protest this week's visit to the island territory by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Of the 49 incursions Taiwan reported on Wednesday and Thursday, 44 involved Chinese aircraft crossing the median line.

Until recently, incursions into Taiwan's ADIZ were also relatively rare.

But that began to change about two years ago, as Beijing applied greater military pressure on Taiwan, which it regards as its territory and has vowed to one day take over.

Last year, Taiwan recorded 969 incursions by Chinese warplanes into its ADIZ, according to an AFP database -- more than double the roughly 380 carried out in 2020.

The most number of aircraft China has sent in a single day was 56, on October 4, 2021.

Before this week's military drills, Taiwan reported 626 incursions, an almost 70 percent increase on the same period last year.

The large number of sorties has put Taiwan's air force under immense pressure, and it has suffered a string of fatal accidents in recent years.

Chinese missiles 'serious problem that impacts our national security': Japan PM
Tokyo (AFP) Aug 5, 2022 - Japan's prime minister on Friday condemned China's firing of ballistic missiles during military drills around Taiwan, calling them a "serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens".

Five Chinese missiles appear to have fallen in the country's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo has said, with four of those believed to have flown over Taiwan's main island.

"China's actions this time around have a serious impact on the peace and stability of our region and the international community," Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after meeting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for breakfast.

"I told her that we have called for the immediate cancellation of the military drills."

Pelosi is in Tokyo for the final leg of an Asian tour that included a stop in Taiwan, infuriating Beijing, which has launched its largest-ever military drills around the self-ruled island in response.

The 82-year-old politician defied stern threats from China to become the highest-profile US official to visit Taiwan in years, saying her trip made it "unequivocally clear" the United States would not abandon a democratic ally.

China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to retake the island one day, by force if necessary.

Kishida said he and Pelosi discussed geopolitical issues including matters related to North Korea, China and Russia, as well as efforts towards a nuclear-free world.

Pelosi arrived Thursday night from South Korea, another key US ally, where she visited the border with the nuclear-armed North. It is her first time in Japan since 2015.

Tokyo has lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the military exercises, which began on Thursday.

Parts of Japan's southernmost Okinawa region are close to Taiwan, as are islets at the centre of a long-running dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.

Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends up to 200 nautical miles from its coastline, beyond the limits of its territorial waters.

Related Links
Taiwan News at SinoDaily.com

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China fires multiple ballistic missiless during major wargames against Taiwan
Taipei (AFP) Aug 4, 2022
Chinese forces fired "multiple" ballistic missiles into waters around Taiwan during Thursday's military drills, Taipei's defence ministry said, condemning what it described as "irrational actions that undermine regional peace". "The Ministry of National Defence stated that the Chinese Communist Party fired multiple Dongfeng series ballistic missiles into the surrounding waters of northeastern and southwestern Taiwan from approximately 13:56 this afternoon," the defence ministry said in a brief state ... read more