Record 38 Chinese Jets Enter Taiwan Defense Zone on National Day

The show of force on China’s National Day on Friday near the self-ruled democratic island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory, came in the same week it accused Britain of sending a warship into the Taiwan Strait with “evil intentions”.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said it scrambled its aircraft to broadcast warnings after 22 fighters, two bombers and one anti-submarine aircraft entered the island’s southwest Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Friday.

A second batch of 13 jets crossed into Taiwan’s ADIZ later on Friday, in a rare night incursion, bringing the total to a record 38, according to the ministry.