China conducts large scale military exercises near Taiwan

China's military has said it carried out large-scale combat strike drills starting on Sunday, sending war planes and navy vessels toward Taiwan, both the Chinese and Taiwanese defence ministries said.

China has stepped up its pressure on Taiwan’s military in recent years on an almost-daily basis toward the self-ruled island.

China claims sovereignty over the island, which split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.

The exercises have continued into Monday, Taiwan's defence ministry said, adding that China's actions “have severely disrupted the peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and surrounding waters".

The drills coincided with the visit of a group of German officials who landed in Taiwan on Monday morning.

They will meet with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, as well as Taiwan’s National Security Council head and the Mainland Affairs Council, which handles issues related to China.

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Large scale military exercises

Over the course of 24 hours, China's People's Liberation Army flew 57 warplanes and four ships toward Taiwan, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement on Monday morning. 

Twenty-eight of those planes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, an unofficial boundary that both sides had previously stood by.

China said their “primary target was to practice land-strikes and sea assaults,” according to a statement from Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the PLA's Eastern Theater Command.

At the end of December, China sent a record 71 planes and 7 ships toward Taiwan, the largest such scale exercise in 2022.

Taiwan will hold its annual two-day military drills starting Wednesday. 

The exercise ahead of Lunar New Year holidays is aimed at showcasing its defence capabilities.

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