TAIPEI, Taiwan—China’s military sent 71 planes and seven ships toward Taiwan in a 24-hour display of force directed at the island, Taiwan’s defense ministry said Monday, after China expressed anger at Taiwan-related provisions in a U.S. annual defense spending bill passed on Saturday.
China’s military harassment of self-ruled Taiwan, which it claims is its own territory, has intensified in recent years, and the Chinese military has sent planes or ships toward the island on a near-daily basis.
Between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, 47 of the Chinese planes crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense….