Up to 20 aircraft either crossed the median line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait or breached Taiwan’s air defence identification zone in a major escalation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China<\/a> sent dozens of military aircraft and vessels toward Taiwan<\/a> on Saturday in a significant warning as fears of conflict erupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwan\u2019s defense ministry said in a statement that 32 aircraft from China\u2019s People\u2019s Liberation Army and nine vessels from the navy were detected in the 24 hours between 6am Friday and 6am Saturday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of these, 20 aircraft either crossed the median line of the sensitive Taiwan Strait<\/a> or breached Taiwan\u2019s air defence identification zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwan urgently responded by sending its own aircraft, vessels and missile systems to react to the activities, the defence military said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It comes just days after the US approved a \u00a3397million arms sale to Taipei as invasion fears surge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said on Friday that China opposed the arms sale, branding it a \u201cgross interference\u201d in China\u2019s internal affairs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n He labelled it a \u201cheinous act\u201d that violates its \u201cOne China\u201d principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It comes after the US announced a package of military aid worth an estimated \u00a3275million for Taiwan<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The package was in addition to nearly \u00a315 billion in military sales of F-16s and other major weapons systems that the US has approved for Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The White House has been bolstering its level of assistance for Taiwan amid China\u2019s repeated threats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It has come under intense pressure from Congress members to support the self-governed island nation<\/a> with additional weapons in the hope that Beijing would consider the price of invading the territory across the Taiwan Strait too high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Matt Shoemaker told Daily Express US the chances new military packages will repel an invasion are low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, he said they indicate that \u201cwhat this means regarding the fears of American and Chinese conflict over Taiwan<\/a> is that the threat for conflict is still there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n China has repeatedly warned it is willing to invade Taiwan, the self-governed island nation Beijing claims sovereignty over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent years, it has stepped up the number of military planes sent toward the island in symbolic warnings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The island split from Beijing in 1949 following a bloody civil war<\/a>, but President Xi Jinping<\/a> says his country is still the rightful owner according to the \u201cOne China\u201d principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n