On Thursday, Taiwan activated its defense systems after reporting that 37 Chinese military aircraft had flown into the island’s air defense zone, some of which then continued into the western Pacific. China, which considers Taiwan as its own territory, regularly flies its air force into the skies near the island, but not into Taiwan’s territorial air space. The defense ministry of Taiwan said that it had detected 37 Chinese air force planes, including J-11 and J-16 fighters as well as nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, flying into the southwestern corner of its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5 a.m. It added that some of the Chinese aircraft flew to Taiwan’s southeast and crossed into the western Pacific for “air surveillance and long-distance navigation training.” Taiwan sent its aircraft and ships to keep watch and activated land-based missile systems. China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.