China Holds Military Drills Near Taiwan

BEIJING (Sputnik) - The Chinese military has carried out various military drills near Taiwan, Army Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese Army, said on Friday.

"The Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army recently held joint patrols of various kinds and types of troops and practical military exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan Island," Shi said in a statement, published on Chinese social media WeChat.

The colonel added that the United States has lately been taking continuous steps to support Taiwanese separatist forces advocating "Taiwan independence," which is "absolutely useless and only harms peace in the Taiwan Strait and aggravates regional tensions."

Shi noted that the Chinese military is ready to defend national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability by suppressing any attempts to organize "the independence of Taiwan."

Taiwan became alienated from Beijing after becoming a stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist Party (the Kuomintang) that suffered defeat to the Communist Party in a civil war in 1949. The Chinese mainland and the island resumed business and informal contacts in the late 1980s. Beijing opposes any official contacts of foreign countries with Taiwan and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.