TAIPEI, Taiwan (TND) — In the largest sortie of the new year, China flew 39 warplanes toward Taiwan on Sunday.

The Associated Press reports Taiwan’s defense ministry says the Sunday night People's Liberation Army sortie included 24 J-16 fighter jets and 10 J-10 jets along with support aircraft.

In response, Taiwan scrambled its own jets and tracked China's planes on defense radar systems, AP reports Taiwan's ministry saying.

The 39 Chinese warplanes were detected within Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), according to CNN.

Just a day before the Chinese sortie, Japan and American navies reportedly put on what CNN called a "massive" show of force in the Phillippine Sea.

The USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln led the carrier groups and engaged in anti-submarine, air and combat readiness operations, according to the AP.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reportedly declined to comment on why the large squadron was flown on Sunday, but the AP does report he says it was "not a diplomatic matter."

Sunday's sortie was the largest since October 2021, when 56 aircraft were reportedly flown into the AIDZ, according to German publication Deutsche Welle.

Taiwan and Chinese relations are historically tense, with China seeing Taiwan as part of its territory and Taiwan seeing itself as independent, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) explains.

Taiwan has been governing itself independently since 1949, but, as CFR puts it, China vows to one day "reunify" Taiwan with the mainland, using force if necessary.