[Source: Reuters]

China staged military drills off Taiwan’s north, south and east coasts on Tuesday as a “stern warning” against separatism and called Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a “parasite,” as Taiwan sent warships to respond to China’s navy approaching its shores.

The exercises, which China has not formally named unlike war games last year, follow a rise in Chinese rhetoric against Lai and come on the heels of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Asia visit, during which he repeatedly criticised Beijing.

China’s military deployed ships, aircraft and artillery to practise blockading the island, strikes on ground and maritime targets, and air interception to “test forces’ coordination in combat,” Beijing’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement.

Last May, three days after Lai’s inauguration, Chinese forces staged war games to simulate seizing full control of areas west of the so-called first island chain and conducted live-fire missile exercises.

China considers democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and calls Lai a “separatist.” In a video accompanying its announcement, the Eastern Theatre Command called him a “parasite” in English and depicted him as a green bug held by chopsticks over a burning Taiwan.

Taiwan’s government condemned the drills. The presidential office said China was “widely recognised by the international community as a troublemaker” and said Taiwan’s government has the confidence and ability to defend itself.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the island’s people can decide their future.

Two senior Taiwan officials told Reuters that more than 10 Chinese military ships had approached close to Taiwan’s 24-nautical-mile (44 km) contiguous zone and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had not detected any live fire by the Chinese military, but that at least 71 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were involved. It said it did not know when the drills would end.

Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said Taiwan’s armed forces had elevated their readiness level to ensure that China does not “turn drills into combat” and “launch a sudden attack on us“.

China’s foreign ministry said the drills “are legitimate and necessary actions to defend national sovereignty and safeguard national unity“.

“China’s reunification is an unstoppable trend — it will happen and it must happen,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson, said at a regular news conference on Tuesday.

Taiwan’s stock market brushed off the rise in tensions, with the benchmark index closing up 2.8% on Tuesday.

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