China simulated “sealing off” Taiwan during a third day of wargames around the self-ruled island on Monday, as the United States deployed a naval destroyer into Beijing-claimed waters in a show of force.
China launched the exercises in response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, an encounter it had warned would provoke a furious response.
After two days of exercises that included simulating targeted strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island, the Chinese military said the wargames also included “sealing” it off, and a state media report said dozens of planes had practised an “aerial blockade”.
One of China’s two aircraft carriers — the Shandong — also “participated in today’s exercise”, the military added.
The United States, which had repeatedly called for China to show restraint, on Monday sent the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer through contested parts of the South China Sea.
“This freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea,” the US Navy said in a statement.
It added that the vessel had passed near the Spratly Islands — an archipelago claimed by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. It is about 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) from Taiwan.
The deployment of the Milius immediately triggered more anger from China, which said the vessel had “illegally intruded” into its territorial waters.
And Beijing warned Monday that Taiwan independence and cross-strait peace were “mutually exclusive”, blaming Taipei and unnamed “foreign forces” supporting it for the tensions.
