Beijing Flexes Military Might Near Taiwan Strait

Beijing began combat drills near the Taiwan Strait on Friday, the same day a senior US official began high-level meetings on the island as Beijing denounced closer ties between Taipei and Washington.

Beijing has watched with growing alarm the ever-closer relationship between Taiwan and the US, and has stepped up military exercises near the island, including two days of mass air and sea drills last week.

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said Friday's drills, about which he gave no details, were taking place near the Taiwan Strait and involved the People's Liberation Army's eastern theatre command.

"They are a reasonable, necessary action aimed at the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Ren said.

Taiwan is a purely internal Chinese affair that brooks no foreign interference, he added.

"Recently the United States and Democratic Progressive Party authorities have stepped up their collusion, frequently creating disturbances," Ren said, referring to Taiwan's ruling party.

Trying to "use Taiwan to control China" or "rely on foreigners to build oneself up" is wishful thinking and doomed to be a dead end, he added.

"Those who play with fire will get burnt," he said.

The drills came as American Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach began the first full day of his visit to Taiwan in a low-key way, with no open media events on his agenda.

He is due to meet President Tsai Ing-wen later in the day, and on Saturday will attend a memorial service for late President Lee Teng-hui.

Beijing had threatened to make a "necessary response" to the trip, straining already poor ties with both Taipei and Washington. Sino-US relations have plummeted ahead of November's US presidential election.

Chinese fighter jets briefly crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait last month as the US Health Secretary Alex Azar was in Taipei, and last week Beijing carried out two days of large-scale drills off Taiwan's southwestern coast.

The United States, like most countries, only has official ties with Beijing, not Taipei, but it is the island's main arms supplier and most important international backer. (Reuters)