Taiwan says 11 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Eleven Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday morning, an unofficial barrier between the two sides, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

A total of 24 Chinese war planes including fighter jets and bombers were spotted near Taiwan on Friday morning from around 8 a.m. (00:00 GMT), the defence ministry said, adding five Chinese battleships also joined a "joint war readiness patrol."

Taiwan sent aircraft and ships to warn away the Chinese activities, while missile systems monitored them, the ministry said, using standard wording for its response.

(Reporting By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)