Taiwan's Defense Ministry has said that Chinese bombers, fighter jets and warships were spotted near the self-ruled island nation, the first such reported activity in several months.
According to the Defense Ministry, People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including H-6 heavy bombers, Y-8 transport aircraft and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets, departed from the PLA's Huiyang air base in Guangdong Province on Tuesday for a flight over the Bashi Channel, the waterway south of Taiwan, on their way to the Western Pacific Ocean for what Beijing has called "routine" distant-sea exercises. The aircraft later returned to their home base, the ministry said.
It said two Chinese warships were also detected just outside Taiwan's air defense identification zone off the country's southeastern coast. The two vessels were believed to be taking part in the same drills as the Chinese aircraft, the ministry added.