TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of National Defense tracked 59 Chinese military aircraft and nine naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Monday and 6 a.m. on Tuesday. 

Forty-three of the 59 People’s Liberation Army aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line in the country’s northern, central, southwestern, and eastern air defense identification zone, according to the MND. The defense ministry also tracked two Chinese balloons to the nation's north.  

The MND said China carried out “joint combat readiness patrols” in two waves on Monday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, according to Reuters.

In response, Taiwan sent aircraft and naval ships and deployed coastal-based missile systems to monitor PLA activity.  

China claimed the exercises were punishment for President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) continued promotion of “separatism,” Reuters cited Beijing as saying. If the Lai administration “dares to provoke and play with fire, it will only bring about its own destruction,” a spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement, per Reuters. 

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said China continues to threaten the country militarily, raising Taiwan Strait tensions and destabilizing regional peace and stability, according to Reuters. 

Lai said last week that Beijing had stepped up its influence campaigns and infiltration against the nation and promised to counter China’s attempts to “absorb” Taiwan, Reuters noted.

So far this month, the MND has tracked Chinese military aircraft 202 times and ships 140 times. Since September 2020, China has increased its use of gray zone tactics by incrementally increasing the number of military aircraft and naval vessels operating around Taiwan.