A Taiwan Air Force F-16 fighter jet flies alongside a Chinese H-6K bomber during an earlier incursion.Credit:File
The first wave of incursions comprised 18 J-16 and four Su-30 fighter jets plus two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers and an anti-submarine aircraft,while the second had 10 J-16s,2 H-6s and an early warning aircraft,the ministry said.
The first batch of Chinese aircraft all flew in an area close to the Pratas Islands,with the two bombers flying closest to the atoll,according to a map issued by the ministry.
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The second group flew down into the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan from the Philippines,a key waterway that links the Pacific with the disputed South China Sea.
Chinese-claimed Taiwan has complained for more than a year of repeated missions by China’s air force near the democratically governed island,often in the south-western part of its air defence zone close to the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.
China has yet to comment. It has previously said such flights were to protect the country’s sovereignty and aimed at “collusion” between Taiwan and the United States,the island’s most important international backer.