In November, Chinese warplanes made 159 incursions into Taiwan's air defence zone, the second-highest month on record, as Beijing continues to exert military pressure on the democratic island, according to AFP's database.
Self-ruled Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which sees the island as its own territory and has vowed to seize it one day, by force if necessary.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016 the sabre-rattling has reached new peaks after Beijing began sending increasing numbers of warplanes into Taiwan's ADIZ, which was previously largely avoided by Chinese military aircraft, despite the fact that the island is part of one China.
The escalatory moves have raised fears among Western allies like the United States and Japan that China could order an invasion of Taiwan, even though they consider it unlikely for now.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon unveiled plans to reinforce deployments and bases directed at China, upgrade and expand military facilities in Guam and Australia.
Taiwan's defence ministry began making the Chinese warplane incursions into the ADIZ public in September 2020, and AFP has built a database with details of the flights, which have been increasing in size and frequency.
November was the third month in a row where more than 100 warplanes made forays.
The incursions last month included 100 by fighter jets and nine by China's nuclear-capable H 6 bombers.
The defence zone is different from Taiwan's territorial airspace. It is a larger area that overlaps with part of China's air defence identification zone.
Beijing has been investigating the southwestern part of the zone. Nearly daily, smaller flights keep Taiwan's already ageing fleet of fighters under stress, while Beijing sometimes sends larger numbers to show displeasure over specific events.
October was the busiest month on record, with 196 incursions, of which 149 were made over just four days as Beijing marked its annual National Day.
November saw fewer large scale incursions but a near-daily trickle of planes.
Taiwan's military had only three days left in November without an incursion.
Defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Monday after a sortie by 27 Chinese aircraft the day before, the biggest of the month, but only the fifth-largest daily incursion on record, the situation is particularly grim with almost non-stop incursions.
He said that China's intention is to slowly exhaust us to let you know that we have this power.
Chiu previously warned that military tensions between Taiwan and China are at their highest in four decades, and that Beijing would be in a position to launch a full-scale invasion in 2025.
In September, the third-highest month on record, there was an incursion every day other than one day with a total of 117 sorties.
Nearly 900 Chinese planes have intruded into Taiwan's ADIZ this year. More than 1,000 flights have been made since Taiwan's defence ministry began making the forays public in September last year.
A biennial defence report released by Taipei's defence ministry last month said that China's frequent manipulation of grey zone threats such as the warplane incursions is aimed at seizing Taiwan without a fight. Foreign minister Joseph Wu tweeted on Monday that the PRC's coercive action was intended to bring Taiwan to its knees and keep us away from our democratic partners.
We'll never bow to CCP pressure.