Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took his oath of office on Monday in Taipei

China on Thursday encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in war games aimed at punishing the self-ruled island after its new president vowed to defend democracy.

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 latest show of force is a "strong punishment for the separatist acts of 'Taiwan independence' forces," China's military said as the drills got underway.

China -- governed by the Communist Party since 1949 -- claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary.

Thursday and Friday's drills 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".

Taiwan's presidential spokeswoman also condemned China's "provocative military behaviour".

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".

"In face of the many threats and attempts of infiltration from China, we must demonstrate our resolution to defend our nation," Lai said in his speech, while hailing a "glorious" era of democracy.

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China warned of strong reprisals to Lai's speech, in which he also vowed to continue building Taiwan's defence capabilities.

It had previously branded Lai a "dangerous separatist" who would bring "war and decline" to the island.

- 'Kill independence' -

The drills, which began at 7:45 am (2345 GMT Wednesday), are taking place in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of the island, PLA Eastern Theater Command Naval Colonel Li Xi said.

As the "Joint Sword-2024A" drills were launched, commentary on state Chinese broadcaster CCTV declared them "a powerful disciplinary action" against Taiwanese separatism.

China's military put out a series of posters touting what it called its "cross-strait lethality". They featured rockets, jets and naval vessels next to blood-stained text.

"The weapon aimed at 'Taiwan independence' to kill 'independence' is already in place," it declared.

- Economic blockade -

Beijing, which split with Taipei at the end of a civil war 75 years ago, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified.

China has stepped up pressure on the democratic island of 23 million people, periodically stoking worries about a potential invasion.

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 last time China announced similar military exercises around Taiwan was in August last year after Lai, then vice president, stopped over in the United States on a visit to Paraguay.

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Those drills also tested the PLA's ability "to seize control of air and sea spaces" and fight "in real combat conditions", according to state media.

They followed April drills that simulated the encirclement of the island, launched after Lai's predecessor Tsai Ing-wen met then-US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

China also launched major military exercises in 2022 after Nancy Pelosi, then the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan.

World powers are keen to see as much stability as possible between China and Taiwan, not least because of the vital role the island plays in the global economy.

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.

The United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but remains the island's most important ally and supplier of military hardware.

US President Joe Biden has said he does not support Taiwan's independence but also that he would back sending forces to defend the island. The official US position on intervention is one of ambiguity.

The United States did not give an immediate official response to the drills.

US Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka, speaking in Canberra, described the exercises as "concerning" but not unexpected.

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Taiwan scrambles jets and puts missile, naval and land units on alert over China's military drills

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te delivers an acceptance speech during his inauguration ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, May 20, 2024. Lai Ching-te was sworn in as Taiwan’s new president Monday, beginning a term in which he is expected to continue the self-governing island’s policy of de facto independence from China while seeking to bolster its defenses against Beijing. 

Taiwan scrambled jets and put missile, naval and land units on alert Thursday over Chinese military exercises being conducted around the self-governing island democracy where a new president took office this week.

China’s military said its two-day exercises around Taiwan were punishment for separatist forces seeking independence. Beijing claims the island is part of China’s national territory and the People’s Liberation Army sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and seek to intimidate its people, who firmly back their de facto independence.

China’s “irrational provocation has jeopardized regional peace and stability," the island's Defense Ministry said. It said Taiwan will seek no conflicts but “will not shy away from one.

“This pretext for conducting military exercises not only does not contribute to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, but also shows its hegemonic nature at heart," the ministry's statement said.

In his inauguration address on Monday, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te called for Beijing to stop its military intimidation and pledged to “neither yield nor provoke” the mainland Communist Party leadership.

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Lai has said he seeks dialogue with Beijing while maintaining Taiwan’s current status and avoiding conflicts that could draw in the island's chief ally the U.S. and other regional partners such as Japan and Australia.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said the land, navy and air exercises around Taiwan are meant to test the navy and air capabilities of the PLA units, as well as their joint strike abilities to hit targets and win control of the battlefield, the command said on its official Weibo account.

“This is also a powerful punishment for the separatist forces seeking ‘independence’ and a serious warning to external forces for interference and provocation,” the statement said.

The PLA also released a map of the intended exercise area, which surrounds Taiwan's main island at five different points, as well as places like Matsu and Kinmen, outlying islands that are closer to the Chinese mainland than Taiwan.

China's coast guard also said in a statement that it organized a fleet to carry out law enforcement drills near two islands close to the Taiwanese-controlled island groups of Kinmen and Matsu just off the Chinese coast.

While China has termed the exercises as punishment for Taiwan's election result, the Democratic Progressive Party has now run the island’s government for more than a decade, although the pro-China Nationalist Party took a one-seat majority in the parliament.

Speaking in Australia, Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Stephen Sklenka, the deputy commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, called on Asia-Pacific nations to condemn the Chinese military exercises.

“There’s no surprise whenever there’s an action that highlights Taiwan in the international sphere the Chinese feel compelled to make some kind of form of statement,” Sklenka told the National Press Club of Australia in the capital Canberra, in a reference to Monday's presidential inauguration.

“Just because we expect that behavior doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t condemn it, and we need to condemn it publicly. And it needs to come from us, but it also needs to come, I believe, from nations in the region. It’s one thing when the United States condemns the Chinese, but it has a far more powerful effect, I believe, when it comes from nations within this region,” Sklenka added.

Japan's top envoy weighed in while visiting the U.S., saying Japan and Taiwan share values and principles, including freedom, democracy, basic rights and rule of law.

“(Taiwan) is our extremely important partner that we have close economic relations and exchanges of people, and is our precious friend,” Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told reporters in Washington, where she held talks with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

She said the two ministers discussed Taiwan and the importance of the Taiwan Strait, one of the world's most important waterways for shipping, remaining peaceful.

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