Taipei: Taiwan on Friday said 38 Chinese warplanes entered its air identification zone (ADIZ) on Friday, in what appears to be the biggest incursion by Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) since Taipei began publicly reporting such activities last year.

The Taiwan Defence Ministry said that the PLA Air Force aircraft came in two waves, CNN reported citing the Defense Ministry. Twenty-five PLA warplanes entered the southwestern corner of the ADIZ during daylight hours, and another 13 planes entered the island’s southwest ADIZ on Friday night, the ministry said in a statement.

The later flight included 10 J-16s, two H-6s and one KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft, it added.

The incident took place on the day when China is celebrating the 72nd anniversary of the founding of the People Republic of China (PRC).

The previous single-day record for PLA flights into Taiwan’s ADIZ was in June when 28 Chinese military planes entered.

Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its grey-zone tactics by regularly sending planes into Taiwan’s ADIZ, with most instances occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war.

On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.