Taiwan says large-scale Chinese military flights return after unusual absence

TAIPEI: Taiwan on Sunday (Mar 15) reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities around the island after an unexplained absence of more than two weeks that prompted speculation in Taipei as to Beijing’s motives. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, normally sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the island on a daily basis, with interruptions generally caused by bad weather. Taiwan’s defence ministry, in a daily update on Sunday morning, said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft, concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, over the previous 24 hours. It last reported…