China Military Holds Combat Exercises Around Taiwan as US Senator Visits – Al-Manar TV Lebanon

China’s military says it recently held joint combat readiness exercises, patrols, and combat drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan as a senior US senator visited the self-ruled island.

The eastern theater command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in a statement on Friday said the drills were held in response to “collusion and provocations” by the United States and Chinese Taipei.

Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry, said several Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait in the northern part of the waterway, hastening to add that the aircraft stopped short of entering Taiwan’s airspace.

Reuters news agency cited a Taiwanese source as saying that it was rare for Chinese aircraft to cross the unofficial buffer, especially from the island’s northwest.

The unnamed source said the aircraft “flew straight across” the median line and then “circled around” during tactical operations, adding that Taipei scrambled fighter jets to intercept the Chinese planes.