BEIJING, 11 November 2021, (TON): Chinese military forces are holding exercises near Taiwan in response to a visit by a US congressional delegation to the island.

The drills in the area of the Taiwan Strait are a necessary measure to safeguard national sovereignty China’s Defense Ministry said in the announcement that gave no details on the timing, participants and location of the exercises.

It said the joint war preparedness patrol by the Eastern Theater Command was prompted by the “seriously incorrect words and actions of relevant countries over the issue of Taiwan” and the actions of those advocating the self-governing island’s independence.

The US has strong but informal relations with Taiwan, and tensions have been rising between the US and China over several issues including Hong Kong, the South China Sea, the coronavirus pandemic and trade.

Details on the US delegation that reportedly arrived in Taiwan were not immediately available.

A Chinese Defense Ministry statement from an unidentified spokesperson strongly condemned the visit, saying “no one should underestimate the firm determination of the People’s Liberation Army to safeguard the Chinese people’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China regards Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by military force if necessary. The sides split amid civil war in 1949 and, following a brief period of rapprochement, relations have grown increasingly tense under Taiwan’s independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen.