Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says
China continued military exercises around Taiwan for a second day.
Taiwan observed 11 Chinese warships and 70 aircraft around the island on Sunday, its defense department said.
The simulation of military attacks on Taiwan comes after the country’s president held talks with Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the US House of Representatives, in Los Angeles.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday that during the exercises, “precision strikes against key targets on the island of Taiwan and surrounding waters were simulated”.
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen condemned the military exercises and pledged to work with “the US and other like-minded countries” in the face of “continued authoritarian expansionism”.
Washington called for restraint and said it was “watching Beijing’s actions closely”.
A State Department spokesman said the US had “consistently insisted on restraint and no change to the status quo”, but noted that it had ample resources to meet its security commitments in Asia.
The US has been selling arms to Taipei for decades to help ensure its self-defense.
China considers the democratically self-governing Taiwan part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.
“These operations serve as a stern warning against the collusion between separatist and external forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and against their provocative activities,” said Shi Yin, a spokesperson for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Taiwan is on high alert, saying its forces will be “well prepared and maintain full combat readiness” while making sure not to “escalate conflict”.
The drills followed hours after French President Emmanuel Macron left China. He visited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to urge him to help end the war in Ukraine.
China also deployed warships, missiles and fighter jets around Taiwan last August in its biggest show of force in years after McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, visited the island.
