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Taiwan scrambled jets on Aug. 3 to warn away 27 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the island's defence ministry said, according to Reuters.

A total of 22 of those Chinese jets were said to have crossed the median line separating the self-ruled island from China amid rising tensions.

The latest Chinese mission included 16 Chinese Su-30 fighters and 11 other jets, Taiwan's defence ministry added.

However, a source familiar with Taiwan's security planning told Reuters the 22 jets that crossed the median line did not fly too far into the unofficial buffer from the Chinese side.

Neither side's aircraft normally cross the median line.

Background

China demonstrated its outrage with a burst of military drills around Taiwan, summoning the American ambassador in Beijing and halting several agricultural imports from the island.

This was after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, making it the highest-level U.S. visit to the island in 25 years.

Taiwan said it dispatched aircraft and deployed missile systems to "monitor" the Chinese activities into its air defence identification zone, or ADIZ.

Taiwan has complained in recent years of repeated missions by the Chinese air force in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, often in the southwestern part of ADIZ.

The Chinese government considers Taiwan a breakaway province, and has not ruled out the use of force to bring the island under its control, despite not having controlled Taiwan previously.

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