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full screen In the past 24 hours, several Chinese warships and warplanes have been targeted around Taiwan. Archive image. Photo: Taiwan Military News Agency Via AP/TT
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense states that more than 30 Chinese warplanes and seven warships have been targeted around the island in the past 24 hours.
It is the biggest show of force that China has carried out around the island since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led by Lai Ching-Te won the election in Taiwan on January 13.
Before the election, Beijing warned Taiwan that if Lai Ching-Te, whom China called a “troublemaker” and “warmonger”, was elected president, it would lead to “war and decay”.
In recent years, China has put democratic Taiwan – which it claims is part of Chinese territory – under increasingly severe military and political pressure.