Between Sunday and today, Monday, Taiwan’s Defense Minister identified a total of 39 operational Chinese warplanes and an aircraft carrier, the Shandong, near the island. Beijing’s military activities were reported after a US destroyer and a Canadian frigate transited the Taiwan Strait over the weekend. “The army is carefully monitoring the situation and has instructed aircraft, navy ships and land-based missile systems to respond,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement which also specifies that 13 aircraft (of the 39 identified ) were spotted in the early hours of today while as many as 22 planes have already crossed the median line over the strait that divides Taiwan from China. The Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong, the ministry announced, is located about 60 miles southeast of Eluanbi, the extreme southern tip of the island. Beijing said on Saturday that its troops were “in a constant state of alert” after the two ships, the American and Canadian ones, crossed the Taiwan Strait.
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