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Advertisement East Asia Taiwan says large-scale Chinese military flights return after unusual absence Taiwan's defence ministry said on Sunday that it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft, concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, over the previous 24 hours. Airplane is seen in front of Chinese and Taiwanese flags in this illustration. (File photo: Reuters/Dado Ruvic) 15 Mar 2026 11:34AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST TAIPEI: Taiwan on Sunday (Mar 15) reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities around the island after an unexplained absence of more than two weeks that prompted speculation in Taipei as to Beijing's motives.China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, normally sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the island on a daily basis, with interruptions generally caused by bad weather.Taiwan's defence ministry, in a daily update on Sunday morning, said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft, concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many on Feb 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft after saying Beijing was carrying out another "joint combat readiness patrol".From Feb 27, Taiwan reported no Chinese military aircraft until Mar 7, when it said it spotted two aircraft to Taiwan's far southwest. There have been only sporadic, small-scale incidents since then. CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less China has provided no explanation for its motives and did not respond to a further request for comment on Sunday.But China's Taiwan Affairs Office late on Saturday lambasted Taiwan President Lai Ching-te for a speech that day discussing the need to boost defence spending and protect the island's democracy."People like Lai Ching-te should not miscalculate; if they dare to take reckless risks, they will dig their own grave," an office spokesperson said in a statement.Officials and experts in Taipei have said reasons for the disappearance of the aircraft could range from Beijing trying to recalibrate its pressure campaign ahead of US President Donald Trump's planned visit to China from Mar 31 to President Xi Jinping's ongoing purge of senior Chinese generals.Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo has said that while the aircraft had gone, the Chinese warships around the island remained and China's threat had not gone away.Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Related: China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, enters service Indonesia to buy 42 fighter jets from China marking its first non-Western aircraft purchase deal Source: Reuters/as Newsletter Week in Review Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday. Newsletter Morning Brief Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief An automated curation of our top stories to start your day. Sign up for our newsletters Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox Subscribe here Get the CNA app Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories Download here Get WhatsApp alerts Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app Join here Related Topics China Taiwan military Advertisement Also worth reading Content is loading... Advertisement Expand to read the full story Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST