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Taiwan reports 153 Chinese military aircraft on Monday

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China held a day of war games around Taiwan

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Taiwan premier: drills an issue for the whole region

(Adds details on previous Chinese military activities,

paragraphs 11, 16; Taiwan stock market reaction, paragraph 17)

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry

said on Tuesday it had detected a record number of 153 Chinese

military aircraft participating in China's war games around the

island the previous day, detailing a surge in warplane activity.

China said the one-day drill, designated "Joint

Sword-2024B", was a warning against "separatist acts" after a

national day speech last week by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te

that Beijing had denounced.

The drills were not only a concern for Taiwan, but risked

destabilising the region, Premier Cho Jung-tai said.

"Any drills without prior warning will cause great

disturbance to peace and stability in the entire region," he

told reporters in Taipei.

"China's drills not only affect Taiwan's neighbourhood, but

also seriously affect the entire international navigational

rights and air and sea space, so attracted the attention of

other countries."

In a daily update on Chinese military activity around the

island, Taiwan's defence ministry said it spotted 153 military

aircraft, surpassing Monday's figure of 125 it had called a

one-day record.

A ministry map showed 28 of those aircraft had crossed the

sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, which had previously

served as an unofficial barrier, but one China says it does not

recognise.

Other areas that saw activity were waters off the

southeastern coast, home to a major Taiwan air base, and to its

southwest, at the top part of the South China Sea, site of the

Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands.

Also spotted were 14 ships of the Chinese navy and 12

"official" vessels, the ministry said, referring to ships of the

coast guard and similar agencies.

China's drills prompted concern from the United States and

its allies, with the Pentagon slamming them as "irresponsible,

disproportionate, and destabilising".

Taiwan has complained of almost daily Chinese military

activity nearby in the past five years, and China has now held

at least four rounds of large scale war games since 2022.

Taiwan rejects Beijing's territorial claims, saying only the

island's people can decide their future.

China's pressure attempts had only solidified support for

Taipei, said Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs

Council, which runs the coast guard.

"China's exercise, while intended to put military pressure

on Taiwan and the international community, has backfired and led

to greater international solidarity against China's expansionist

behaviour," she wrote on her Facebook page.

"Cross-Strait relations are no longer just cross-Strait

relations; they are now at the heart of international relations

in the Indo-Pacific."

Taiwan has lived under the threat of attack since 1949 when

the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island

after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists, and

Beijing's war games have not caused alarm for most Taiwanese.

Taiwan's benchmark stock index closed up 0.3% on Monday, and

up 1.4% on Tuesday, ahead of expected stellar third quarter

earnings on Thursday by chipmaker TSMC.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Stephen Coates,

Clarence Fernandez and Lincoln Feast.)