China conducts drills around Taiwan; Pentagon urges Beijing not to capitalize on Tsai’s transit to overreact

China launched three days of combat-readiness patrols and military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday. The country’s military said the top priority is testing its ability to control sea lanes and air routes.

The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said drill locations include the Taiwan Strait, and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan.

The drills are seen as a response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The command said the army, navy and air force, as well as the rocket force, quickly deployed to the designated drill zones after receiving orders.

It said Saturday’s drills were focused on testing the military’s capabilities of gaining control of air and sea routes. The command added another goal was to test the military’s ability to position troops to encircle and close in on Taiwan.

State-run China Central Television aired footage of naval and air force activities on Saturday night, but no explanations were given as to when and where it was filmed.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had spotted 71 Chinese military aircraft, including fighter jets, around Taiwan between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday, local time.

It said 45 of them crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, or entered Taiwan’s southwestern air defense identification zone.

A researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, a think tank of China’s military, told media that the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong is likely to join the drills.

The Shandong is China’s first domestically built carrier. It had been conducting its first training exercises in waters of the West Pacific.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense says it is monitoring events closely as China launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday.

A Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent US transit was “consistent with longstanding US policy.”

The statement says there is no reason for Beijing to turn the transit into “something it is not or use it as pretext to overreact.”

It adds that the US military will continue to “safely and responsively fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows.”