The U.S. State Department said on Saturday it was “deeply concerned” about Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan, and urged China to exercise restraint.
“Using a normal, routine democratic transition as a pretext for military provocation risks escalation and undermines long-standing norms that have maintained peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for decades,” the State Department said in a statement.
The ministry made the statement after China concluded two days of military drills around Taiwan that included mock bomber attacks and boat boarding drills, which Taiwan condemned on Saturday as a “blatant act of provocation.”
China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, launched the “United Sword-2024A” drills three days after Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing calls a “separatist,” was sworn in as Taiwan’s president.
Beijing said the exercise was “punishment” for Li Ming’s inaugural speech on Monday.
He said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were “not subordinate to each other,” which China took as a declaration that the two were separate countries.
