Taiwan has sent ships and fighter jets to monitor the second Chinese "joint combat readiness patrol" in a week near the island, in what a senior Taiwanese security official said showed China is the sole source of instability in the region.
China has pressured Taiwan by increasing its military presence around the island, and Taipei is on high alert for further Chinese actions after President Xi Jinping discussed Taiwan with US President Donald Trump in Beijing this month.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, and operates its warships and warplanes around the island on an almost daily basis. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.
