China has fired rockets into the waters off Taiwan on a second day of large-scale war games around the island aimed at rehearsing a blockade.
The country’s military deployed new amphibious assault ships alongside bomber aircraft and warships in what Beijing called a “stern warning” against separatist and “external interference” forces.
China has long insisted Taiwan – which has been ruled separately from China since 1949 following the civil war that brought the Communist Party to power in the mainland – is part of its sovereign territory and has expressed anger at US weapons sales to the self-ruled island.
Its military is carrying out 10 hours of live-firing drills at five locations surrounding Taiwan.
The Eastern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army released a video of what appeared to be a mobile PCH-191 rocket launcher firing into the sea from an unspecified location in China and said rockets had been fired into waters north and south of Taiwan.
Naval and air force units also simulated strikes on maritime and aerial targets as well as anti-submarine operations to the island’s north and south, the Chinese military said.
The drills, named “Justice Mission 2025”, are the largest by area and closest yet to Taiwan.
The exercises, which included the use of destroyers, frigates, fighters and bombers, began 11 days after the US announced a record $11.1bn (around £8.2bn) arms package to Taiwan.
A senior Taiwan intelligence official said Beijing looks to be using the war games to practise striking land-based targets such as the US-made HIMARS rocket system – a highly mobile artillery system with a range of about 300 km (186 miles) that could hit coastal targets in southern China.
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Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said in a post on Facebook that frontline troops were primed to defend the island, but that Taipei did not seek to escalate the situation.
The defence ministry said 130 Chinese military aircraft and 22 navy and coastguard vessels had been operating around the island in the 24 hours up to 6am local time.
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The country’s Civil Aviation Authority said that although 11 of Taipei’s 14 flight routes were affected by the drills, no international flights had been cancelled.
But routes to the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu near China’s coast are blocked, affecting around 6,000 passengers.
