‘STERN WARNING’

China Retaliates With Military Exercises After Taiwanese President Visits U.S.

“This is a stern warning against the collusion and provocations of the ‘Taiwanese independence’ separatist forces and external forces,” a Chinese military official said.

China’s saber-rattling over Taiwan continued Saturday, as it initiated three days of military exercises in responses to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen’s recent visit to the U.S. The People’s Liberation Army conducted the retaliatory drills both on the water and in the air, announcing a live-fire exercise on the Taiwan-facing island of Pingtan and sending military planes on flights over the Taiwan Strait’s median line. “This is a stern warning against the collusion and provocations of the ‘Taiwanese independence’ separatist forces and external forces,” said a high-ranking Chinese military official in a statement announcing the exercises, according to The New York Times. President Tsai had met with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in the highest-level American political reception a Taiwanese leader has received since the U.S. officially switched its diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979.