China's military on Thursday vowed to defeat all attempts at secessionism and urged the United States not to send the wrong signals on Taiwan independence, ahead of a trip by Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te to Hawaii as part of a Pacific tour.
China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and says Lai is a "separatist". Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future and has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing that have been rebuffed.
China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using Lai's upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled stopovers in the United States as a pretext, according to assessments by Taiwan and regional security officials.
Asked at a monthly news briefing in Beijing about Lai's visit to Hawaii and whether there could be a military response from China, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said the United States should refrain from sending any wrong signals to the forces of "Taiwan independence".
"The Chinese People's Liberation Army shoulders the sacred mission of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will resolutely defeat all secessionist attempts for 'Taiwan independence' and thwart all interference by external forces," he added.
A few hours after Wu had spoken, Taiwan's defence ministry said it had detected Chinese warplanes and warships carrying out a "joint combat readiness" patrol around the island, which China tends to do once or twice a month.
The ministry said it had spotted 19 Chinese aircraft, including J-16 fighters, flying to the north, southwest and east of Taiwan.
TAIWAN AIR DEFENCE DRILL
Earlier on Thursday, Taiwan's air force command said that for a two-hour period starting from 5 a.m. (2100 GMT Wednesday) aircraft, ships and missile systems had carried out in an "overall air defence battle plan exercise".
The drill was to "strengthen the overall effectiveness of air defence operations and to test the response and engagement procedures of the air defence forces", it added.
"In the face of changes in the enemy situation, we will continue to enhance defence resilience through various practical training to anticipate potential threats and challenges and ensure air defence security," the command said.
The defence ministry told Reuters separately that it was a regular drill carried out quarterly.
Reuters correspondents in the northern Taipei suburbs reported seeing and hearing fighter jets in the skies as dawn broke.
Lai will leave on Saturday for his overseas trip, his first outside of Taiwan since assuming office in May, and is making official visits to Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the 12 countries to maintain formal ties with Taipei.
Taiwan's official Central News Agency said Lai would also spend two nights in Hawaii and one night in Guam, meeting with members of the overseas Taiwan community and having closed-door meetings with think tanks.
Taiwan presidents typically make use of what are officially only stopovers in the United States to meet friendly U.S. politicians and give speeches as part of visits to far-flung allies in the Pacific, Latin America or the Caribbean.
China has carried out two rounds of major war games around Taiwan so far this year, and on a daily basis flies aircraft and sends ships into the skies and waters around Taiwan.
Taiwan has also complained of Chinese balloons flying near the island in what the government says is a pattern of harassment by Beijing.
On Thursday, the ministry said the previous day it had spotted two Chinese balloons flying out at sea to the north of Taiwan, at distances of 60 nautical miles (111 km) and 88 nautical miles (163 km) from the port city of Keelung.
Late on Wednesday, the presidential office said that if China were to use Lai's trip as an excuse to launch military exercises, "it would be a blatant provocation of the status quo of peace and stability in the region".
The same day, China's government said such transit stops were "essentially provocative acts that violate the one-China principle".
