Beijing: China on Thursday encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in war games, as it vowed the blood of "independence forces" on the self-ruled island would flow.
The two days of drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China that has seen it carry out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.
The drills come after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan's new president this week and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a "confession of independence".
As the drills got underway, China's military said they would serve as "strong punishment for the separatist acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces".
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin then delivered a warning that included language more commonly used by China's propaganda outlets.
"Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great... trend of China achieving complete unification," Wang told reporters.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the democratic island under its rule, by force if necessary.
Thursday and Friday's drills — codenamed "Joint Sword-2024A" — involve aircraft and ships surrounding the island to test their combat capabilities, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) said.
Taiwan responded by deploying air, ground and sea forces, with the island's defence ministry vowing to "defend freedom".
President Lai said he would "stand on the front line" to defend Taiwan in a speech on Thursday afternoon, without directly referring to the ongoing drills.
"Faced with external challenges and threats, we will continue to defend the values of freedom and democracy, and safeguard peace and stability in the region," he said.
A Chinese military expert told CCTV that the drills were partly aimed at rehearsing an economic blockade of the island.
Zhang Chi, a professor at Beijing's China National Defense University, said the drills aimed to "strangle" Taiwan's critical Kaohsiung port to "severely impact" its foreign trade.
They would cut off "Taiwan's lifeline of energy imports" as well as "block the support lines that some US allies provide to 'Taiwan independence' forces", he added.
The Taiwan Strait is one of the world's most important maritime trade arteries, and the island itself is a major tech manufacturer, particularly of vital semiconductors -- the tiny chips used in everything from smartphones to missile systems.
Fighter jets took off from a Taiwan airbase Thursday as the self-ruled island dispatched aerial and naval forces in response to China's launch of military drills, while Taipei's coast guard warned off Chinese vessels.
Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said China's exercises were "destructive" to regional peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Self-ruled Taiwan is separated by a narrow 180-kilometre strait from China, which has said it would never renounce the use of force to bring the island under Beijing's control.
Taipei's coast guard said it had encountered Chinese ships around the Taiwan-administered outlying islands of Dongyin and Wuqiu early Thursday morning.
Footage released by the coast guard showed Taiwanese officers ordering Chinese ships to leave over a loudspeaker.
"Your movements affect our country's order and safety, please turn away and leave our restricted waters as soon as possible," an officer said, according to the coast guard video.
"Leave right away, leave right away!"
The incidents near Dongyin and Wuqiu marked the seventh time this month that Chinese vessels breached Taiwan's restricted waters. — AFP
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