BEIJING (Al Jazeera) – China’s military has staged “simulated joint precision strikes on key targets in Taiwan” during a second day of drills launched near the island in the wake of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s brief visit to the United States.
The announcement on Sunday came as Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected multiple Chinese air force sorties and was monitoring Beijing’s missile forces.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, began the three days of military exercises around the island on Saturday, the day after Tsai Ing-wen returned from the U.S., where she held a meeting with the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.
Chinese state television reported the combat readiness patrols and drills around Taiwan were continuing.
“Under the unified command of the theater joint operations command center, multiple types of units carried out simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan island and the surrounding sea areas, and continue to maintain an offensive posture around the island,” it said.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said that as of Sunday midday (04:00 GMT), it had spotted 58 Chinese aircraft, including Su-30 fighters and H-6 bombers, as well as nine warships around the self-ruled island.
The ministry said it was paying particular attention to the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force, which is in charge of China’s land-based missile system.
It reiterated that Taiwan’s forces will “not escalate conflicts nor cause disputes” and would respond “appropriately” to China’s drills.
China has described the exercises, dubbed United Sharp Sword, as a “serious warning to Taiwan’s independence separatist forces”.
China had warned Taiwan and the U.S. against the Tsai-McCarthy meeting, which took place on the Taiwanese president’s return leg of a tour of the self-ruled island’s two remaining formal allies in Central America.
She arrived home on Friday.
China also staged extensive war games around Taiwan last year, including firing missiles into waters close to the island, after a visit to Taipei by then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
U.S. channels of communication with China remain open, said a spokesperson for the American Institute in Taiwan, which serves as an embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.
Washington severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979 but still provides the island with weapons.
China, which has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control, says Taiwan is the most important and sensitive issue in its relations with the U.S., and the topic is a frequent source of tension.
Beijing considers Tsai a separatist and has rebuffed her repeated calls for talks.
China has over the past three years or so stepped up its military pressure against Taiwan, flying regular missions around Taiwan, though not in its territorial air space or over the island itself.