With the country depending entirely on imports since April, the failure of a recent shipment to pass quality tests resulted in shortages at Auckland Airport, the country's busiest.

The incident has again heightened tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, just as a lengthy crisis over Canada's 2018 arrest of a Chinese tech executive subsides.

Taiwan lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which sees the self-ruled, democratic island as part of its territory to eventually be reclaimed, by force if necessary.

The Block 70 aircraft are the newest F-16 configuration, with new avionics, a modernised cockpit and an improved engine, according to Lockheed Martin.

France's partnership with Australia was considered the cornerstone of its Indo-Pacific policy and since losing that deal, Paris has been on the offensive to strengthen its ties in the region Japan to India and Vietnam.

The latest Chinese mission involved 10 J-16 and four Su-30 fighters, as well as four H-6 bombers, which can carry nuclear weapons, and an anti-submarine aircraft, Taiwan says.