Chinese Forces Once Again Surround Taiwan Out Of Apparent Anger Over Island President’s Speech

Chinese forces launched alarming military drills around Taiwan on Monday after the island’s president made a speech calling for independence from China, according to multiple reports.

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command surrounded the island from all sides with air and naval forces during the drills, which were meant to serve as a “stern warning to the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence,’” defense spokesman Li Xi said on Monday. The drills are the latest in a string of increasing acts of aggression against Taiwan, which the Western world fears China may soon invade.

“‘Taiwan independence’ is as incompatible with cross-Strait peace as fire with water, and provocations by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces will be responded with countermeasures,” the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.

Variousgraphics posted on Monday depicted Chinese forces posted at six locations surrounding Taiwan, a tactic that China has warned it will implement to try to cut off the island from the rest of the world in the event of an invasion. The drills also focused on the readiness of cooperation between air, naval and ground forces, Li said.

Days before the drills, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te defended the island’s sovereignty last week during a speech on National Day. Beijing views Lai as a “troublemaker” and a “separatist.”