China launches long-range airstrike drills around Taiwan

The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese military said on Sunday around noon local time that it conducted live-fire drills in the waters and airspace around Taiwan “as planned.””The drills focused on joint fire land strikes and long-range air strike capabilities,” the command said in a statement posted to its official account on the social media platform Weibo, without specifying whether the drills have ended.The exercises, planned to take place in six zones around the island, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry on Sunday said it detected multiple Chinese aircraft, naval vessels and drones operating around the Taiwan Strait that morning, in what it called a “simulated attack against the main island of Taiwan and Taiwan’s naval vessels” — a slight dial-up of language from Saturday when it said that Chinese military drills around the island could be a Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang on Sunday reiterated Taiwan’s condemnation of the drills.”Not only Taiwan but other countries in the region as well as freedom-loving countries like the US and so on have vehemently protested and condemned China’s arrogant military operations disrupting regional peace and stability,” he said during a press engagement.”We call on the Chinese government to not flex its military muscles and disrupt regional peace.”A US National Security Council spokesperson on Saturday called China’s recent military activities around Taiwan a “significant escalation in China’s efforts to change the status quo.” “They are provocative, irresponsible, and raise the risk of miscalculation,” the spokesperson said. “They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects.”US allies have also come forward to condemn China’s actions, including in a joint statement issued Friday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa following their meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Cambodia.The diplomats “condemned (China’s) launch of ballistic missiles,” including those the Japanese government said landed in its exclusive economic zone, for “raising tension and destabilizing the region,” and called on China “to immediately cease the military exercises,” according to the statement released by the US State Department.China hit back on Saturday evening, with its embassy in Australia calling the US “the biggest saboteur and destabilizer of peace in the Taiwan Strait” and disputing the “legal basis” for Japan’s claims regarding the missile landings.”China is the victim of political provocation from the US. The actions taken by the Chinese government to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity and curb the separatist activities are legitimate and justified,” a statement from the embassy read.CNN’s Gladys Tsai and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report