China said Saturday that it has conducted military exercises near Taiwan, deploying fighter jets and warships close to the island, in response to Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te's U.S. stopovers on his trip to and from Paraguay.
The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese military, which covers the Taiwan Strait, said the exercises serve as "a serious warning against the collusion and provocation of the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and the external forces."
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it has detected a total of 42 Chinese military aircraft since 9 a.m., of which 26 crossed the strait's median line -- a boundary that both sides had respected for decades but ignored by China recently. The ministry lashed out at the move as an "irrational provocative behavior."
Lai returned to Taiwan on Friday after attending Paraguayan President Santiago Pena's inauguration ceremony. The vice president, a major candidate in the territory's presidential election next January, made stopovers in New York and San Francisco as part of his trip to the island's only ally in South America.
In a statement Saturday, the Taiwan Work Office of China's ruling Communist Party denounced Lai's "shameless efforts to cling to U.S. support" in pursuit of "Taiwan independence" and called him "an out-and-out troublemaker" who will push the island "to the dangerous brink of war."
The office warned that China will take "resolute measures" to counter "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry condemned China for its attempt to aggressively interfere with the island's election process, saying in a statement such acts not only "violate the free will of the people of Taiwan, but also threaten the common values and democratic way of life of the free world."
The island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party, headed by Lai, also criticized Beijing for seeking to influence the upcoming election.
Mainland China should immediately abandon the "barbaric act of bullying and threats" in an attempt to force others to submit to them, as it is not what a "responsible, civilized country" should do, the DPP said.
China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war. Beijing, which regards the territory as a renegade province and intends to unify it with the mainland, by force if necessary, opposes any official contact it has with other countries.
Beijing carried out large-scale military drills around Taiwan in response to a visit by then U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August last year.
China also launched exercises near the island in April this year after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen made stopovers in the United States as part of her trip to Central America and met with Pelosi's successor, Kevin McCarthy, in California.
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