Sixteen Aerial Incursions In Past 24 Hours-Ministry Of Defence

Lucas Tomlinson at Fox News: "China launched 45 more aircraft today, including 16 fighter jets that crossed median line, 308 warplanes have buzzed Taiwan in past eight days: [Taiwanese] MoD".

• Should be noted, of course, that Beijing does not recognise the median line between China and Taiwan in the Taiwan Strait, with the assertion that the flights are legal within its own sovereign airspace.
• Drills have been carried out around Taiwan since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last week. The exercises were set to have ended on 7 August, but on 8 August China's PLA announced that it had practiced antisubmarine operations and air-to-sea strikes in the “space near Taiwan Island".
• Enhanced and more frequent drills could take place in the run up to the Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly Congress taking place in the autumn. President Xi Jinping, seeking a highly-unusual third term in office seeking to portray a hardline nationalistic stance against the US, a view that is backed up by aggressive gestures towards Taiwan.