Chinese fighter jets and warships crossed median line, says Taiwan

China has been holding huge drills encircling Taiwan since Thursday to protest the visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Taipei’s military said Chinese fighter jets and ships crossed the median line that runs down the Taiwan Strait on August 5, 2022 , calling Beijing’s latest military drills “highly provocative”.

“As of 11 am, multiple batches of Chinese warplanes and warships conducted exercises around the Taiwan Strait and crossed the median line of the strait,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

“This Chinese military exercise, whether it be the launch of ballistic missiles or the deliberate crossing of the median line of the strait, is a highly provocative act.”

The median line is an unofficial but once largely adhered-to border that runs down the middle of the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China.

China has been holding huge drills encircling Taiwan since Thursday to protest this week’s visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

It was previously rare for military jets and ships to cross the median line, although Chinese incursions have become more common after Beijing declared in 2020 that the unofficial border no longer existed.

Crossings of the line are sensitive because the Taiwan Strait is narrow, just 130 kilometres (81 miles) at its thinnest point, and incursions raise the risk of military accidents.