The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army revealed on Saturday that its forces held new military exercises around the island of Taiwan.
The joint drills included the PLA Navy and Air Force and focused on combat readiness and capabilities and ship-aircraft coordination, according to the Eastern Theater Command press service. The move should be seen as a "serious warning to the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces colluding with external forces to provoke," the Chinese military pointed out.
Taiwan's Vice President William Lai, the likely next president on the territory, made stopovers in the United States on his way to Paraguay earlier this week.