29 Chinese aircraft cross Taiwan Strait median line: MND

Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) A total of 29 Chinese warplanes and drones crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND).

The planes and drones crossed into the airspace north, center, southwest and southeast of the strait's median line, the MND said.

The ministry said the planes and drones were part of a fleet of 36 Chinese military aircraft, along with eight naval ships and a spy balloon, that was detected in areas around Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday.

The MND said it scrambled combat air and sea patrols and deployed defense missile systems to track the Chinese military aircraft.

Since September 2022, Taiwan's defense ministry has been posting public information about Chinese planes entering Taiwan's ADIZ, amid a growing frequency of such incursions.

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