ALBAWABA - Earlier on Monday, Taiwan's defense ministry announced in a report that it had detected 103 Chinese warplanes around the island in one day, describing the number as a "recent high".
The ministry said in a statement: "Between the morning of September 17th to 18th, the Ministry of National Defence had detected a total of 103 Chinese aircraft which was a recent high and has posed severe challenges to the security across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,".
The ministry also warned that Beijing's continued military harassment can lead to a dangerous spike in tension and worsen regional security,". The statement continued to call on China to "immediately stop such destructive unilateral actions".
"Of the total number of warplanes detected, 40 crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait that separates the self-ruled island from China, and entered its southwest and southeast air defense identification zone (ADIZ)".
The tension spike came as Beijing declared its troops were on "high alert" after two US and Canadian ships traveled through the territorial waters of Taiwan.
According to Taiwan's defense ministry, 68 Chinese planes and 10 navy vessels were spotted around the island between Wednesday and Thursday morning last week.
According to the ministry, some of those planes and warships were traveling to an unidentified area of the Western Pacific to "conduct joint sea and air training" with China's Shandong aircraft carrier.
The Shandong, one of China's two active aircraft carriers, was spotted last week around 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Taiwan, heading into the Western Pacific, according to Taipei authorities.
Last Monday, Japan's defense ministry announced that its navy had spotted six ships, including frigates, destroyers, one rapid combat support ship, and the Shandong, cruising in waters 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Miyakojima island, east of Taiwan.
