'Taiwan independence forces' will have 'heads broken': China

China has said that those supporting independence for Taiwan would be left with "heads broken and blood flowing" and that its military drills around the self-ruled island sought to send a "serious warning."

"Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great... undertaking of China achieving complete unification," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

China launched two days of military drills around Taiwan, surrounding the island with navy vessels and aircraft as "strong punishment" for "separatist acts", state media reported.

Wenbin described the exercises around the island as a "serious warning." The military exercise on Thursday comes three days after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan's new leader.

China has branded Lai a "dangerous separatist" who will bring "war and decline" to the island.

China regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified, and has refused to rule out using military force to do so.

Relations have plunged in recent years as China has put pressure on the island, periodically stoking worries about a potential invasion.

Joint Sword-2024A

Thursday and Friday's drills, code-named Joint Sword-2024A, will "focus on joint sea-air combat-readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, and joint precision strikes on key targets", Xinhua reported.

"The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) started joint military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan from 7:45 a.m. Thursday (2345 GMT)," the news agency said, adding the drills were being conducted in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of the island.

The drills will also take place around the islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin, Xinhua said.

The news agency reported military spokesman Li Xi as saying the exercises "involve the patrol of vessels and planes closing in on areas around the island of Taiwan and integrated operations inside and outside the island chain to test the joint real combat capabilities of the forces of the command".

The spokesperson said the drills would also serve as a "strong punishment for the separatist acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces and a stern warning against the interference and provocation by external forces", Xinhua news agency said.

'Real combat conditions'

The last time China announced similar military exercises around the island was in August last year after Lai, then vice president, stopped over in the United States on a visit to Paraguay.

Those drills also tested the PLA's ability "to seize control of air and sea spaces" and fight "in real combat conditions", according to state media.

Beijing at the time described them as a "stern warning".

They followed on the heels of April drills that simulated the encirclement of the island, triggered after Lai's predecessor Tsai Ing-wen met then-US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

China also launched major military exercises in 2022 after Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan.

The country also held drills when then-president Tsai later transited through the United States.

US, Taiwan react

Taiwan said it was "regrettable" that China had launched military drills around the self-ruled island days after Lai Ching-te was inaugurated as its new leader.

"It is regrettable to see China using unilateral, provocative military behaviour that threatens Taiwan's democracy and freedom as well as regional peace and stability," presidential spokeswoman Karen Kuo said in a statement.

"In the face of external challenges and threats, we will continue to defend democracy."

US Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka said China's military drills around Taiwan were expected but "concerning."

"We expected something like this, frankly," the US Indo-Pacific Command deputy commander told an audience in Canberra. "Just because we expect that behaviour does not mean we that we should not condemn it and we need to condemn it publicly," he said.

"It is concerning."

Sklenka said other nations besides the United States should speak out against the drills.

"It's one thing when the United States condemns the Chinese, but there's a far more powerful effect, I believe, when it comes from nations within this region," the lieutenant general told reporters.

"I also believe in my heart of hearts that conflict between our two nations is not inevitable, and it's not a foregone conclusion."

Sklenka said he believed the "target" of China's exercises was its own domestic population, not the international community.