About 20 military ships – half from China and half from Taiwan – are involved in a stand-off near the Taiwan Strait’s sensitive median line, Reuters reports.
China has also conducted simulated air and sea attacks on “foreign military targets” in waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast on Sunday, the news agency said, citing a security source familiar with the situation.
“Taiwan is not their only target,” the unnamed source said. “It’s very provocative.”
It comes on the second of three days of Chinese military drills around the island, which on Saturday saw dozens of Chinese military aircraft cross the median line that serves as an unofficial barrier between the two sides.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had spotted 58 Chinese aircraft, including Su-30 fighters and H-6 bombers, as well as nine ships, around Taiwan.
China’s aircraft carrier Shandong, which Taiwan has been monitoring since last week, is now more than 400 nautical miles off Taiwan’s southeast coast and is carrying out drills, the source said.
The ministry said its forces will “not escalate conflicts nor cause disputes” and would respond “appropriately” to China’s drills.
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Dozens of Chinese fighter jets cross sensitive Taiwan median line as Beijing begins military drills
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, began the exercises the day after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a visit to the US where she met Republican and Democrat congressional leaders.
Beijing sees any interaction between US and Taiwanese officials as a challenge to its claim to the island.
During her trip, Ms Tsai had talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, making him most senior US figure to meet a Taiwanese leader on American soil since 1979.
The president’s visit was condemned by Beijing, with a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson attacking the “egregiously wrong action taken by the US and Taiwan” and vowing to take “strong and resolute measures to defend our sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
Beijing considers Ms Tsai a separatist and has rejected her repeated calls for talks. She says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.
Under its ‘One China’ policy, the US recognises and has formal ties with China, while it also maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan.
Washington is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
The US State Department says on its website: “We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence.”
