After massed plane incursion near Taiwan, China says must respond to 'collusion'

China will not tolerate foreign forces intervening in Taiwan issues and must make strong responses to such acts of "collusion", the federal government said on Wednesday (Jun 16) following the island reported the largest incursion to date of Chinese aircraft.

Twenty-eight Chinese air force aircraft, including fighters and nuclear-capable bombers, entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday, the island's government said.

The incident came following the Band of Seven leaders issued a joint statement on Sunday scolding China for some issues and underscored the value of peace and stability over the Taiwan Strait, comments China condemned as "slander".

Asked at a news conference if the military activity was related to the G7 statement, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said it had been Taiwan's government that was to be blamed for tensions. Beijing believes the island's government is dealing with foreign countries to get formal independence.

"We won't tolerate attempts to get independence or wanton intervention in the Taiwan issue by foreign forces, so we must make a solid response to these acts of collusion," Ma said.

Democratically-ruled Taiwan has complained over the last few months of repeated missions by China's air force nearby the island, concentrated in the southwestern part of its air defence zone nearby the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

However, this time not merely did the Chinese aircraft fly in an area near to the Pratas Islands, however the bombers plus some of the fighters flew around the southern part of Taiwan nearby the bottom tip of the island, according to Taiwan's defence ministry.

The fly-by happened on a single day the US Navy said a carrier group had entered the disputed South China Sea.

A senior official acquainted with Taiwan's security planning told Reuters that officials believed China was sending a note to the United States as the carrier group sailed through the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines and leads into the South China Sea.

"It's strategic intimidation of the US military. They wanted america to note their capability and for them to restrain their behaviour."

Taiwan needs specifically to pay attention to the fact that China's military has started conducting drills in Taiwan's southeastern ADIZ, the foundation added.

This "to some degree was targeting our deployments in the east and increasing air defence pressure around our ADIZ", the source said.

Taiwan's east coast houses two major air bases with hangers dug out from the side of mountains to supply protection in the event of a Chinese assault.