TAIPEI, May 26 - Taiwan's armed forces moved ships and fighter jets to shadow what its defence ministry described as the second Chinese "joint combat readiness patrol" in a week around the island. The ministry said the operation involved both aircraft and warships and that Taiwan maintained surveillance throughout the activity.
According to the defence ministry, its forces detected 21 Chinese aircraft on Monday, including J-16 fighters and drones, operating around Taiwan. The ministry also released images taken by Taiwanese forces - one from an F-16 jet showing two Chinese fighters following a Y-20 aerial refuelling aircraft, a second showing the Chinese warship Yinchuan, and a third depicting a Taiwanese navy sailor viewing the same ship through binoculars.
In addition to the aircraft, Taiwanese authorities reported Chinese warships taking part in what Beijing called a "joint combat readiness patrol." Taiwan responded by dispatching both naval and air assets to monitor the movements closely. China's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the reported operations.
This patrol follows a similar readiness exercise carried out last Tuesday, the defence ministry said. That earlier patrol occurred the day before Taiwan's president marked his second year in office. Taiwan's government has said it rejects Beijing's claims of sovereignty over the democratically governed island. Beijing regards Taiwan as its own territory and regularly operates warships and warplanes around the island.
Separately, Taiwan reported a coast guard encounter over the weekend in waters near the Pratas Islands, which are controlled by Taiwan and lie at the northern edge of the South China Sea. Taiwan said a Chinese coast guard vessel confronted its coast guard near those islands.
Taiwan's National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu posted on social media over the weekend that he believed 100 Chinese ships were currently within the so-called first island chain - an area that runs from Japan through Taiwan into the Philippines, he said. Taipei said it remains on high alert for further actions by Chinese forces, particularly following recent discussions in Beijing between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Context and monitoring: Taiwan continues to publish visual evidence of Chinese activity and to deploy military assets to observe and record operations it deems threatening. The government maintains that it will reject Beijing's sovereignty claims while closely tracking developments at sea and in the air.