China launches 2 days of live military drills in Taiwan, prompting “quick response action” by Taipei

China unveiled live fire plans in Taiwan on Monday that it said would amount to a blockade of the self-governing island’s key ports, prompting Taipei to denounce Beijing’s “military intimidation”.

The drills “continue to confirm (China’s) nature as an aggressor, making it a major destroyer of peace,” the Defense Ministry in Taipei said.

Taiwan’s military said it had set up a response center, used “appropriate force” and “conducted a quick response.”

Beijing says Taiwan is part of an independent country and has refused to take military action to suppress the island’s democracy.

CBS News has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for comment.

The latest show of force by Beijing follows the announcement earlier this month of a record arms sale to Taiwan more than ten billion dollars by the United States, Taiwan’s biggest security supporter, and Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, said its military might intervene if China were to attack Taiwan. But China’s military did not identify the US or Japan in its statement on Monday morning.

Beijing warned on Monday that “foreign forces” arming Taipei would “push the Taiwan Strait into a dangerous situation of imminent war,” but did not name any countries.

Any attempt to stop China’s rapprochement with Taiwan will “fail,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference.

China it said it was conducting “live-fire training against maritime targets north and southwest of Taiwan” in a large-scale exercise involving destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers and drones.

A military spokesman said earlier that Beijing will send troops, air force, air force and rocket forces to “large-scale exercises” code-named “Justice Mission 2025.”

The operations will focus on “monitoring naval air combat readiness, joint seizure of total altitude, blockade of key ports and areas, and blockade of all areas except the island chain,” said Senior Colonel Shi Yi of the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command.

Chinese authorities also published a map of five major areas around Taiwan where additional firefighting operations will take place for ten hours on Tuesday.

“For safety reasons, any non-essential ship or aircraft is advised not to enter the aforementioned waters and airspace,” the statement said.

Taiwan’s Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo criticized China’s “disregard for international norms and using military threats to threaten neighboring countries.”

Taipei said on Monday it had received four Chinese patrol vessels off the north and east coasts.

Its coastguard said it “immediately dispatched large vessels to respond before positioning in the appropriate areas” and “sent additional support units.”