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TAIPEI, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Taiwan is determined to defend itself and invaders will incur a "heavy price", President Tsai Ing-wen said on Tuesday on the anniversary of a confrontation six decade ago in which Taiwanese forces beat back Chinese attackers. Tensions between Taiwan and China have spiked over the past month following the visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. China staged war games near Taiwan to express its anger at what it saw as stepped up U.S. support for the island Beijing views as sovereign Chinese territory. Meeting military officers, Tsai extolled the "spirit" of defending against China's more than a month of bombardment of the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen and Matsu, just off the Chinese coast, which started in late August 1958. "This battle defended Taiwan for us, and it also declared to the world that no threat can shake the determination of the Taiwanese people to defend their country," Tsai said, in comments released by her office. "What we have to do is to let the enemy understand that Taiwan has the determination and preparation to defend the country, as well as the ability to defend itself," she added. "A heavy price will be paid for invading Taiwan or attempting to invade Taiwan, and it will be strongly condemned by the international community." Meeting earlier in the day with a delegation of former U.S. officials now at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, including Matt Pottinger, former U.S. President Donald Trump's dep...

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets in response to an incursion by 37 Chinese aircraft into its air defense identification zone Thursday, the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said. Photo courtesy of Taiwan Ministry of Defense/UPI June 8 (UPI) -- Taiwan detected 37 sorties by Chinese military aircraft into its air defense identification zone Thursday, the island's Defense Ministry said. The ministry said that it detected Chinese J-11 and J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, as well as transport and early warning aircraft, flying into the southwestern part of Taiwan's ADIZ starting at 5 a.m. Some of the planes continued flying into the western Pacific and "carried out aerial surveillance and long-distance navigation training," the ministry said in a Taiwan scrambled aircraft and ships and activated shore-mounted missile systems to monitor the large-scale incursion, Beijing's latest in a steady stream of provocations that Taipei calls "gray zone" warfare meant to strain the island's defense capabilities and wear down its morale. RELATED China considers the democratic island of 23 million a wayward province and has vowed to seize control of it by force if necessary. Taiwan has never been a part of the mainland People's Republic of China, which was founded in 1949, and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. In response, Taiwan has boosted its defense spending and engagement with the United States, which does not recognize the island diplomatically but sells Taipei weapons. RELATED Over the wee...