Taiwan activated its defense systems on Thursday after it reported 37 Chinese warplanes entered the island’s air defense zone, some of which then flew into the western Pacific Ocean, Reuters reported.

Taiwanese pilots flee to take off in the country’s fighter jetsPhoto: Sam Yeh/AFP/Profimedia

China, which claims the democratically-ruled state of Taiwan as its territory, has for the past three years carried out regular flights by its air force in the skies near the island, but not in Taiwan’s territorial airspace. Taiwan’s government rejects China’s claims to sovereignty and says only the island’s residents can decide its future.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it detected 37 Chinese Air Force planes, including J-11 and J-16 fighter jets and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, flying toward the country’s southwest as of 5 a.m. (midnight in Romania). corner of its air defense identification zone, or air defense.

Air defense is a wider area that Taiwan controls and patrols to give its forces more time to respond to threats.

Some of the Chinese planes flew to southeast Taiwan and crossed the western Pacific Ocean to conduct “aerial surveillance and long-range navigation training,” the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan has sent its planes and ships to monitor and activate land-based missile systems, he added, using standard wording for how it responds to such actions by China. China’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China completed the second phase of joint aerial patrols with Russia over the western Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, after flights the day before over the Seas of Japan and East China Seas, prompting Japan to worry about its national security.

Laura Rosenberger, president of the American Taiwan Institute, which manages informal relations between Washington and Taipei, is visiting Taiwan this week.

She told Taiwanese media on Monday that the United States has a longstanding interest in maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait and that the United States will continue to supply arms to the island.

In April, China held military exercises around Taiwan following a visit to the United States by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.