Taiwan’s defense ministry said it registered four J-10 and four J-16 jet fighters, as well as a surveillance plane and an anti-submarine plane. One aircraft flew through the strategic Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines. The island’s jets were scrambled to respond to and monitor Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force planes.

Taiwan regularly reports that Beijing sends warplanes into the southwestern section of its air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Last month, Taiwanese military reported a Chinese mission consisting of 20 aircraft, which it described as the largest incursion ever recorded in a day.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei remain tense, while China has recently hit out at growing US efforts to wield its influence in the region through assistance to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as a Chinese province under its control.

President Joe Biden’s administration has signed an agreement with Taiwan to set up a Coast Guard Working Group, which was seen as a response to a new law in China allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels in certain circumstances.

Beijing has said that both moves by the US are a breach of the one-China principle, which recognizes the single government of China.