China was carrying out new military exercises around Taiwan on Monday, Beijing reported, defying calls to end the largest military maneuvers of its history around the island.
"The Chinese People’s Liberation Army continued to carry out practical joint exercises and training in the sea and airspace around the island of Taiwan, focusing on staging joint underwater and sea strike operations"the Chinese Army’s Eastern Command said in a statement.
China began conducting live-fire drills in six large areas around Taiwan on Thursday, the day after the visit by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi made it to the island.
The exercises, at least in this configuration, were supposed to end at noon on Sunday at 04:00 GMT, according to the Chinese maritime security administration, but the maneuvers continued on Monday.
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, denounced the "total disproportion" of the Chinese reaction and, in particular, of these maneuvers, during which China fired several missiles.
Following criticism from the G7, the group of major Western bloc industrialized countries, and the United States, Blinken issued a joint statement with his Japanese and Australian counterparts calling on China to end the military exercises.