Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said today that Chinese military aircraft and warships continue to operate around the island, even though it has now been 24 hours since China announced that the three-day exercises it organized had ended.

According to the Ministry of Defense, a total of 26 aircraft and seven warships were spotted in the last 24 hours, up to 06:00 (local time; 01:00 Greek time). Of these, 14 Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to the same source.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the ministry spoke of 35 aircraft and eight warships.

China’s continued shows of force appear to be aimed at intimidating Taiwan’s authorities, erasing any prospect of a formal declaration of independence for the island, which Beijing calls a Chinese province destined for reunification with the mainland, without ruling out the use of force to do so. , although since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 Taipei has had its own government.

The three-day high schools officially ended on Monday. It was Beijing’s reaction to Taiwan’s nationalist President Tsai Ing-wen meeting with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week.