China ends Taiwan drills after practising blockades, precision strikes

China's state television showed footage of organised drills conducted by the various branches of the Chinese military around Taiwan.

The drills were announced on Saturday after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen returned to Taipei following a meeting in Los Angeles with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Beijing, which considers Taiwan a part of China, regards meetings between senior US and Taiwanese officials as interference in its internal affairs and has not ruled out using force to bring the island under its control.

Taiwan's government strongly disputes China's claims and has denounced the drills.

The Chinese military said it had "successfully completed" the exercises and "comprehensively tested" the capabilities of multiple units under actual combat conditions.

"The troops in the theatre are ready to fight at all times and can fight at any time, resolutely crushing any form of Taiwan independence separatism and foreign interference," an official from the Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said.

Reuters