TAIPEI (Taiwan News) - Chinese bombers among a group of 24 aircraft and five ships which approached Taiwan on April 15 simulated an attack on the southern and southeastern parts of the island, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) tweeted Wednesday (April 17).

The fact that China’s People’s Liberation Army sent its planes and vessels close to Taiwan as former United States House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan attended events marking the 40th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act in Taipei was already known.

However, Wu on Wednesday provided more details about what occurred, adding that “we will not lower our heads to bullying,” the Central News Agency reported.

Asked for a reaction to Wu’s tweet that China’s H-6K bombers had rehearsed for an attack, the Ministry of National Defense referred to its April 15 news release which said the military had closely monitored the Chinese presence in the air and on the sea. The military had safeguarded the nation’s security, so there had been no need for the public to worry, the text said.

On April 15 around noon, the planes and ships had moved south of Taiwan through the Bashi Channel from west to east, and most of them later returned to China by the same route, with the exception of the H-6K bombers who had flown back over the areas between Taiwan and Japan, the military said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied that Wu’s revelations of the number of Chinese aircraft and vessels and of details of their activities amounted to an illegal leak of confidential information, CNA reported.