TAIPEI: Taiwan's defence ministry on Tuesday (Oct 15) detailed the surge in Chinese warplane activity around the island during war games the previous day, saying it had detected a record 153 Chinese military aircraft.

China held a single day of what it called "Joint Sword-2024B" drills on Monday as a warning to "separatist acts", following last week's national day speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te that Beijing denounced.

In its daily update on Chinese military activity around the island in the previous 24 hours, Taiwan's defence ministry said it spotted 153 Chinese military aircraft, updating a figure given on Monday evening of 125 which it had already said was a record high for a single day.

Of those aircraft, 28 crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait, according to a map the ministry released, which had previously served as an unofficial barrier and which China says it does not recognise.

Related:China insists it won't renounce 'use of force' to take Taiwan as drills end Taiwan spots Chinese carrier, China military video says 'prepared for battle'

Other areas of activity included off Taiwan's southeastern coast, home to a major Taiwanese air base, and to the southwest of Taiwan at the top part of the South China Sea where the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands are located.

There were also 14 Chinese navy ships and 12 "official ships" - which refer to the coast guard and other military adjacent vessels - spotted, the ministry said.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Premier Cho Jung-tai said the drills were not just a Taiwan issue.

"Any drills without prior warning will cause great disturbance to peace and stability in the entire region," he said.

"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."

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's territorial claims, and says only the island's people can decide their future.

"NEW LEVEL OF AGGRESSION": EXPERT

Every major exercise by China becomes more sophisticated and involves more platforms, which extends to Chinese military activity around Taiwan, said political scientist Oriana Skylar Mastro.

Beijing has reached a point of relying on such military coercions to respond to big events like Lai's speech, said the Center Fellow from Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

"In my discussions with members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, they say that the strategy is really to show Taiwan that there is no chance of defence by constantly bombarding them with this image of how much just more sophisticated, large and capable the Chinese military is to Taiwan's military," she told CNA's Asia First programme.

China's planes and vessels were also deployed close to Taiwan and in dense formations, which Mastro said could be seen as a "new level of aggression".

What is critical to assess is how ready China is to engage in a "joint operation" which involves getting all of their different military services to work together to take Taiwan by force, she added.

"The more dense they are in terms of ships being close to aircraft being close to missilesjollibet, the closer and closer all those different elements come together, the closer they are to being ready to do an actual operation against the island."

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