China says launches military exercises around Taiwan

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China’s military on Tuesday said it had sent its army, navy, air and rocket force to surround Taiwan, in drills it said were aimed at practising a blockade of the self-ruled island.

Beijing’s military said the exercises were aimed at sending a “stern warning and forceful deterrence” to alleged separatists in Taiwan.

The drills “focus on sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade on key areas and sea lanes”, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesperson of the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command, said.

China’s armed forces “close in on the Taiwan Island from multiple directions”, he said, describing the move as “a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity”.

China insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory, and has increased the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around the island in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty, which Taipei rejects.