China sent 16 warships to the waters around Taiwan this past weekend in a massive show of force at sea.

According to Taiwan’s Free Times on March 18, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it had spotted 15 military aircraft and 16 warships belonging to the People’s Liberation Army in the airspace and waters around Taiwan from 6 a.m. on March 14 to 6 a.m. the next day.

The 16 warships spotted on that day are more than the 14 ships that China deployed in August last year when it staged a siege drill on Taiwan in response to former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

China deployed 12 warships in April of this year when Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as part of her visit to the United States.

“The number of warships deployed in the region has broken records,” the state-run Global Times reported on Saturday, referring to the PLA’s increased activity around Taiwan.

The newspaper cited Taiwanese media reports on PLA trends.

“Amid a series of events, including the passage of the U.S. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024, a joint statement at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, and joint U.S.-U.K.-Australia-Japan military exercises, 먹튀검증토토사이트 the PLA’s increased warship activity around Taiwan is intended to demonstrate its ability to blockade the island,” the Taiwanese media reported, citing a military expert as saying, “It is possible that troops from not only the Eastern Fleet, which covers Taiwan, but also the Southern Fleet are involved.”