The Chinese military began rehearsing the encirclement of Taiwan as part of the army’s military drills this week.
The Taiwanese Defence Ministry said 71 Chinese military planes and nine ships crossed the Taiwan Strait median line – an unofficial dividing line between Chinese and Taiwanese territory – at around 9am UK time.
According to reports, one of the ships fired a round from its deck as it sailed near Pingtan island.
Beijing has called the operation a “stern warning” for “the collusion and provocation between the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external forces”.
Chinese state media said the military drills would “simultaneously organise patrols and advances around Taiwan island, shaping an all-round encirclement and deterrence posture”.
It added that “long-range rocket artillery, naval destroyers, missile boats, air force fighters, bombers, jammers and refuellers” had all been deployed by China’s military.
It comes after a fresh wave of sanctions were imposed by China against the US in retaliation for House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s meeting with the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen.
The measures announced apply to Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank that hosted Ms Tsai in New York and presented her with a leadership award.
Defying repeated threats from Beijing, Ms Tsai held talks with Mr McCarthy at the Reagan Library outside Los Angeles on Wednesday during a stopover in the US
Mr McCarthy joined a growing list of foreign politicians and officials who have met Ms Tsai in a show of support for the self-governed island in the face of China’s aggression.
The Chinese foreign ministry announced that the two organisations had been sanctioned for "providing a platform and convenience to Taiwan separatist activities". It said Chinese institutions were prohibited from cooperating or having any contact with them.
Taiwan split from China following the civil war in 1949. Despite this, the ruling Communist Party has pledged to regain the island.
While the US has no official relations with Taiwan, Washington maintains informal and commercial ties with the island and has agreed multiple arms deals to supply Taipei.
