TAIPEI — China flew an unusually large number of warplanes into Taiwanese airspace over the weekend in what can only be interpreted as an early test of U.S. President Joe Biden.
China sent 15 military aircraft, including 12 fighter jets, into Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Sunday, Jan.
24, the country's defence ministry said.
The incursions came a day after China sent eight nuclear-capable bombers and four fighter jets into the same airspace.
Citing the defense ministry, Taiwan's Central News Agency reports that the aircraft flew between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea but did not cross the median line.
The incursions came a day after a U.S. aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea to promote "freedom of the seas," Reuters reports, citing a statement released Sunday by the U.S. military.