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China has flown more than 30 military planes toward Taiwan in the second large display of force in as many days.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said 39 aircraft entered its air defence identification zone in two sorties, one during the day on Saturday and one at night.
That followed a similar pattern on Friday, when 38 planes flew into the area south of the self-governing island.
China claims Taiwan, which lies off its east coast, as its territory. The two split in 1949 during a civil war in which the communists took control of mainland China and the rival nationalists set up a government on Taiwan.
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The Communist Party marked the 72nd anniversary of its rule on Friday.
Taiwan’s premier, Su Tseng-chang, spoke out on Saturday against the first day’s flights.
“China has always conducted brutal and barbarian actions to jeopardise regional peace,” he said while attending the opening ceremony of a science park in southern Taiwan.
China has been sending military planes into the area south of Taiwan on a frequent basis for more than a year.
But those sent on Friday and Saturday were the most in a single day since Taiwan began releasing reports on the flights, Taiwan’s Central News Agency said.
The defence ministry said 20 planes took part in the daytime flights on Saturday and another 19 at night. It identified most of them as J-17 and SU-30 fighter jets.–AP