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China declares 'successful completion' of Taiwan military drills
The military drills from April 8 to 10 included 'Joint Sword' exercise, and comprehensively tested the integrated joint combat ability
China declared it had "successfully completed" three days of war games around Taiwan on Monday, after it deployed dozens of aircraft to launch simulated strikes and an aerial blockade of the self-ruled island.
Beijing held 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 strong response.
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After three days of drills, the Chinese military said it had "successfully completed" tasks related to its "Joint Sword" drills.
The exercise "comprehensively tested the integrated joint combat ability of multiple military branches under actual combat conditions", the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Eastern Command said in a statement.
The war games saw Beijing simulate targeted strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island, including "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 said.
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 a condemnation from China, which said the vessel had "illegally intruded" into its territorial waters.
Separately, Beijing warned Monday that Taiwanese independence and cross-strait peace were "mutually exclusive", blaming Taipei and unnamed "foreign forces" supporting it for the tensions.
"If we want to protect peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait we must firmly oppose any form of Taiwan independence separatism," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned.
Close Chinese ally Russia defended the drills, with a Kremlin spokesperson saying Beijing had a "sovereign right" to respond to what Moscow called "provocative acts".
