China sends largest incursion of warplanes into Taiwan defence zone since October

China’s air force flew 39 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on Sunday, the largest daily number since record-breaking incursions in October. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence said it had tasked aircraft in response, issued radio warnings to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pilots and deployed missile defence systems to monitor the activity. In recent years the PLA has ratcheted up its incursions, which it says are training drills, to near daily frequency. Over four days in October nearly 150 planes were dispatched, breaking previous records and coinciding with China’s National Day, a key patriotic holiday.

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