46 PLA aircraft cross Taiwan Strait median line: Defense ministry

Taipei, May 25 (CNA) A total of 46 Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait in the 24-hour period from at 6 a.m. Friday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Saturday.

These planes were part of a larger fleet of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that entered Taiwan's southwestern, southeastern and eastern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the ministry said in a statement.

An ADIZ is a self-declared area in which a country claims the right to identify, locate and control approaching foreign aircraft, but it is not part of the country's territorial airspace as defined by international law.

Also from Friday into Saturday, 27 Chinese military vessels were identified in waters around Taiwan, the ministry said, stressing that it had been monitoring the situation the entire time and had deployed aircraft, ships and coastal missile systems in response.

On Thursday, China launched a two-day joint military exercise codenamed Joint Sword-2024A in the areas surrounding Taiwan, which prompted the MND to set up several emergency response centers.

The centers were demobilized Saturday by Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄), who received a briefing on the PLA's activities in the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait and ordered the military to resume normal operations.