China again holds combat drills around Taiwan, Taipei slams Beijing

China has conducted another round of military combat drills around Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement late Sunday. The body said that its forces held "joint combat readiness patrols and actual combat drills" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, focused on land strikes and sea assaults

China views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory. To further its claims, it has been ramping up military, political and economic pressure.

The aim of the drills was to test joint combat capabilities and "resolutely counter the provocative actions of external forces and Taiwan independence separatist forces", it added.

Meanwhile, Taiwan slammed China on Monday for holding its second military combat drills around the island in less than a month. The defence ministry said that it had detected 57 Chinese aircraft and four naval vessels operating around the island over the previous 24 hours, including 28 aircraft that flew into Taiwan's air defence zone.

Some of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial buffer between the two sides. Su-30 and J-16 fighters were among those that made the incursion, while two nuclear-capable H-6 bombers flew to the south of Taiwan, a ministry map showed.

Condemning the drills, Taiwan's presidential office said China was making "groundless accusations". It added that Taiwan and China were jointly responsible for the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan's position is very clear, in that it will neither escalate conflicts nor provoke disputes, but will firmly defend its sovereignty and security, the office said in a statement.

"The nation's military has a close grasp of the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the surrounding area and responds calmly. Our people can rest assured," it added.

In a similar exercise last month, Taiwan said 43 Chinese aircraft had crossed the median line.

China has made regular military incursions into the waters and airspace near Taiwan over the past three years. After Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives, made a visit to Taiwan, it held war games last August.

Taiwan strongly rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's 23 million people can decide their future.

(With inputs from agencies)

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