China on Tuesday sent its army, navy, air and rocket forces to surround Taiwan for drills Beijing said were aimed at practising a blockade of the self-ruled island.

Taiwan dispatched its own aircraft and ships, and deployed land-based missile systems, in response to the drills and accused Beijing of being the world's "biggest troublemaker".

China insists democratic Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control.

Beijing has increased the deployment of fighter jets and naval vessels around Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty, which Taipei rejects.

China had deployed 19 warships around the island in the 24-hours to 6:00 am (2200 GMT on Monday), including the Shandong aircraft carrier group, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

Tensions between China and Taiwan -- which are separated by the 180-kilometre (112-mile) Taiwan Strait -- have escalated since Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te took office in May 2024.

Chinese leaders loathe Lai, who has been more outspoken than his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen in defending Taiwan's sovereignty.

Lai last month called China a "foreign hostile force" and proposed measures to combat Chinese espionage and infiltration.

Tuesday's exercises were aimed at sending a "stern warning and forceful deterrence" to alleged separatists in Taiwan, Beijing said.

They involved "sea-air combat-readiness patrols, joint seizure of comprehensive superiority, assault on maritime and ground targets, and blockade on key areas and sea lanes", said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, spokesman of the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command.

Beijing's armed forces "close in on Taiwan Island from multiple directions", he said.

The Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command -- which oversees operations along the Taiwan Strait -- shared a graphic with the title "closing in".

Another graphic shared by the military depicted Lai as an insect being roasted over an open fire.

And a video shared by the military on X-like Weibo showed footage of weapons interspersed with animations of Sun Wukong, the legendary Monkey King from the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West".

The video climaxes with Chinese forces appearing to use satellites to mark targets across Taiwan, before ending with a flurry of rocket explosions while multiple Monkey Kings attack a giant frog monster.

China's coast guard said it also conducted "law enforcement patrols" around the island.

"Pursuing 'Taiwan independence' means pushing the people of Taiwan into a dangerous situation of war," Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement.

Taiwan's Presidential Office "strongly condemned" China's actions, and Premier Cho Jung-tai said "resorting to displays of military force is not what modern, progressive societies should pursue".

- Potential flashpoint -

This week's drills are the biggest since February, when Taipei said that China staged a "live-fire" combat drill with aircraft and warships in an area about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) off the island's south.

Taiwan's military responded by sending forces to "monitor, alert and respond appropriately" -- though officials in Taiwan have said no actual firing took place.

Beijing at the time rejected "pure hype" from Taiwan over what it called "routine training".

China has carried out multiple drills around the island in recent years, often described as rehearsals for a blockade and seizure of the territory.

Analysts have speculated that China was more likely to attempt a blockade of Taiwan than launch an all-out invasion, which was riskier and would require a huge military deployment.

Taiwan is a potential flashpoint for conflict between China and the United States, which is the island's most important backer and biggest arms supplier.

While the United States is legally bound to provide arms to Taiwan -- which Beijing opposes -- Washington has long maintained "strategic ambiguity" when it comes to whether it would deploy its military to defend it from a Chinese attack.

There have been concerns in Taiwan about US President Donald Trump's willingness to protect the island. He said last month that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be "catastrophic".

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Sunday that the United States would ensure "robust, ready and credible deterrence" across the Taiwan Strait.

The dispute between China and Taiwan dates back to 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war with Mao Zedong's communist fighters.

Communist China has never ruled Taiwan, where indigenous tribes have lived for thousands of years. The island was partly or totally ruled at various times by the Dutch, Spanish, China's Qing dynasty and Japan.

(AFP)

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