A joint operation of China’s army, navy, air force, and rocket force started a large-scale military exercise in the water and airspace around Taiwan on Thursday, VOA reports.

Defending its action, the Chinese military said the move was to give Taiwan “a strong punishment for the separatist acts of ‘Taiwan independence forces’” as well as issue them “a stern warning” against any act of provocation by external forces.

China owned Xinhua News Agency, disclosed that drills are set to be conducted in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south, and east of Taiwan as well as in areas near Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen and Matsu islands, by the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army.

Spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command, Li Xi, explained that the drills will focus on joint sea-air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, and joint precision strikes on key targets.

However, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence condemned the exercise by the Chinese military, describing the move as an “irrational provocation” that will damage regional peace and stability.

Taiwan stated that it will take practical actions, including deploying the country’s naval, air, and ground forces, to safeguard their freedom and protect its sovereignty.

China’s drills come just three days after the newly inaugurated Taiwan president, William Lai, during his inauguration speech on Monday, urged China to stop the political and military intimidation against his country and accept its democracy and sovereignty.

Mr Lai also proposed a cross-strait exchange through the resumption of tourism on a reciprocal basis or enrollment of degree students in Taiwanese institutions while warning the Taiwanese people against China’s ambition to “annex Taiwan”.

In response to the comment, the spokesperson of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, which handles cross-strait relations, Chen Binhua, in a press conference on Tuesday, said, “The speech fully demonstrated that Lai is a traitor to mainstream public opinion on the island and a disruptor of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

While the Island country claims it is a sovereign nation, China says otherwise, insisting it is just a breakaway province of China. Mr Chen said that “Taiwan independence is a dead end”.

Mr Chen stated that attempts by the country to gain independence through support from external forces will only backfire, and warned that the “collusion with external forces to provoke and seek independence, we must counteract and punish them.”