China's military holds exercises around Taiwan as a senior US senator visited Taipei

China said that it held military exercises around Taiwan during a senior US senator's visit to Taipei to meet President Tsai Ing-wen. Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said on Friday that it recently held joint combat readiness exercises, patrols and combat drills in the sea and airspace around Taiwan.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in a statement that the exercises were organised in response to "collusion and provocations" by the United States and Taiwan.

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News agency Reuters reported that several Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Friday in the northern part of the waterway. Quoting a source, the news agency further reported that the aircraft did not enter Taiwan's airspace.

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As per the source mentioned by the news agency, it was rare for Chinese aircraft to cross the unofficial buffer, especially from Taiwan's northwest.

The person, whose identity was not revealed, the aircraft "flew straight across" the median line and then "circled around" carrying out tactical operations. He added that Taiwan scrambled fighter jets to intercept the Chinese planes.

"It was a clear message of provocation," the person said, citing Friday's visit to Taipei by U.S. Senator Rick Scott, a senior Republican who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee and sits on the Senate's Armed Services Committee.

China claims Taiwan as its territory

China claims Taiwan as its territory since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. At that time, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists lost to Mao Zedong's Communists. They had rebased in Taipei. China has even said that, in case needed, it will use force to unite the two sides.

BBC recently reported that a top US general said that the United States is "very closely" watching the Chinese activities near Taiwan.

In a report on July 3, the media outlet published Gen Mark Milley said that an attack on Taiwan is not imminent.

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Meanwhile, the United States says it backs Taiwan's sovereignty. The island has its own constitution and leaders are elected democratically.

But in the past two-three years, China has increased the number of military flights into Taiwan's air defence identification zone at sea. China also accuses the US of supporting Taiwan's independence.

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