TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A pilot is missing after ejecting from a fighter jet during a nighttime training exercise on Tuesday night, Taiwan's defense ministry said

The Mirage 2000 fighter jet lost power at around 8 p.m. local time, the defense ministry said. Rescuers were searching for the pilot.

The plane was flying in the waters off the coast of Hsinchu, a city just south of Taipei, on the island's west coast.

Taiwan purchased the Mirage 2000 jets from France during the 1990s, and relies on them as well as U.S.-made F-16Vs in its air force.

It faces constant military exercises nears its waters from China, which claims the island as its own territory and threatens to use military force to bring it under its control. The island is self-ruled.