Taiwan: China's military flew surveillance planes

Taiwan on Thursday condemned recent Chinese military activity after Beijing sent two military surveillance planes toward the island for three straight days, calling it "a deliberate provocation and a dangerous act."

Speaking to journalist at a weekly news conference in Taipei, Chiu Chui-Cheng, deputy minister of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said China's fighters crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait, entering Taiwan's airspace.

Tensions have risen in the Taiwan Strait as the US has stepped up its official engagement with the self-ruled island that China considers part of its national territory.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, China sent two planes into Taiwan's air defence identification zone, according to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence.

"We oppose China using military force against Taiwan, deliberately violating Taiwan's naval and airspace safety and damaging the status quo," Chiu added.

Last week, China sent a total of 37 warplanes, including bombers and fighter jets, across the Taiwan Strait in a warning as a high-level US State Department official visited the island.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday denied the existence of any midline, saying that Taiwan is part of China.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has remained defiant, visiting a military base on Tuesday and encouraging the personnel, in particular pilots and crew.

China has increased diplomatic and military pressure on Tsai's government over her refusal to agree to China's insistence that the island be considered part of Chinese territory.

Following Tsai's election in 2016, China cut off contact with the Taiwanese government and has sought to isolate it, siphoning off the island's diplomatic allies while ratcheting up political, military and economic pressure.