A US Navy reconnaissance aircraft flew over the Taiwan Strait on Friday, Taipei said in a statement.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the US P-8 aircraft crossed the strait from south to north.
“During this period,” the ministry said on X, the Taiwanese armed forces “maintained full control over the surrounding sea and airspace, with the situation remaining normal.”
Such flights by the US and its allies usually draw protests from China, which considers Taiwan its “breakaway province.”
However, US allies claim freedom of navigation in this waterway for flights and sailings of their military aircraft and ships.
It was the second time in the past three weeks that the US flew its naval aircraft over the Taiwan Strait.
China responded by deploying its naval and air forces when a US Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft flew through the strait on November 26.
Earlier, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence reported a record number of Chinese warships and aircraft spotted off the island’s coast. In the past 24 hours, 16 warships and 34 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft have been spotted near Taiwan. A Taiwanese security official clarified that the manoeuvres are part of Beijing’s largest maritime exercises in recent years.
