Military drills, warplane missions near Taiwan necessary to defend sovereignty and territory: Chinese official

China’s military flew 56 planes off the southwest coast of Taiwan on a single day earlier this month, a single-day record that capped four days of a sustained pressure campaign involving 149 flights.

China’s recent increase in military exercises and warplane missions near Taiwan – which have raised concerns around the region – were necessary to defend the nation’s sovereignty and territory, a Chinese official said on Wednesday.

China’s military flew 56 planes off the southwest coast of Taiwan on a single day earlier this month, a single-day record that capped four days of a sustained pressure campaign involving 149 flights. All were in international airspace, but the display raised fears that any misstep could provoke an unintended escalation in the region.

Taiwan views China’s moves as advertising its threat to bring the island it claims as its own territory under its control by military means as necessary. The sides split amid civil war in 1949 and have no official contacts.