There was no announcement from China on Sunday on whether the exercises had ended and Taiwan said it was unable to verify whether China had stopped them as scheduled. The Chinese exercises, centred on six locations around the island, began on Thursday and were scheduled to last until midday on Sunday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported last week. 'It must be borne in mind that Taiwan is not a part of the United States - it is China's territory,' Wang's ministry cited him as saying. Speaking during a visit to Bangladesh, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said his country's actions were 'legitimate, reasonable, in accordance with the law,' and aimed at protecting China's 'sacred sovereignty'. It issued photographs of Harpoon anti-ship weapons being loaded on another. The defence ministry said its F-16 jet fighters were flying with advanced anti-aircraft missiles. On Inside Geneva host Imogen Foulkes puts big questions facing the world to the experts working to tackle them in international Geneva. Taiwan said its shore-based anti-ship missiles and its Patriot surface-to-air-missiles were on stand-by. 'The two sides are showing restraint,' the person said, describing the manoeuvres as high seas 'cat and mouse'. But a late-evening commentator on Chinese state television said the Chinese military would now conduct 'regular' drills on the Taiwan side of the line, saying the 'historic task' of China's 'reunification' could be realised.Īs Chinese forces 'pressed' the line, as they did on Saturday, the Taiwan side stayed close to monitor and, where possible, deny the Chinese the ability to cross, said the person with knowledge of the situation who declined to be identified. It was not immediately clear if China had ended the drills on Sunday, as previously announced. In a statement later on Sunday, the ministry said it had detected 14 Chinese warships and 66 Chinese aircraft in and around the Taiwan Strait. It said it had sent aircraft and ships to react 'appropriately'. The island's defence ministry said multiple Chinese military ships, aircraft, and drones were simulating attacks on the island and its navy.

Pelosi's visit last week infuriated China, which regards the self-ruled island as its territory and which responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over the island's capital for the first time and the cutting of some areas of dialogue with Washington.Ībout 10 warships each from China and Taiwan sailed at close quarters in the Taiwan Strait, with some Chinese vessels crossing the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. TAIPEI (Reuters) -Chinese and Taiwanese warships played high seas 'cat and mouse' on Sunday ahead of the scheduled end of four days of unprecedented Chinese military exercises launched in reaction to a visit to Taiwan by U.S. REUTERS/Jameson Wu reuters_tickers This content was published on Aug16:01 Aug16:01

Taiwan Navy ships are seen at the port in Keelung, Taiwan August 6, 2022.

Modern warships and modern warplanes