The People’s Liberation Army and PLA Navy staged a military drill near Taiwan as a "severe warning to separatist forces" following angry statements by Beijing over stopovers in the United States by Taiwanese Vice-president William Lai. The PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command launched joint exercises by its air force and navy around the island to review its combat capability, it said in a statement this morning. "It is a severe warning to Taiwan separatists for their engagement with foreign forces and provocations," it said. Taiwan’s defence ministry condemned the drills and said it would respond with appropriate force. "The launch of the military exercise this time not only does not help peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, but also highlights Beijing’s militaristic mentality," it said in a statement. It further mentioned it had detected 42 Chinese aircraft and eight ships involved in drills around the island.

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