BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – China staged military drills off Taiwan’s north, south and east coasts on Tuesday as a “stern warning” against separatism and called Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te a “parasite,” as Taiwan sent warships to respond to China’s navy approaching its shores.

The exercises, which China has not formally named unlike war games last year, follow a rise in Chinese rhetoric against Mr. Lai and come on the heels of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Asia visit, during which he repeatedly criticized Beijing.

China’s military deployed ships, aircraft and artillery to practice blockading the island, strikes on ground and maritime targets, and air interception to “test forces’ coordination in combat,” Beijing’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement.

Last May, three days after Mr. Lai’s inauguration, Chinese forces staged war games to simulate seizing full control of areas west of the so-called first island chain and conducted live-fire missile exercises.

China considers democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and calls Mr. Lai a “separatist.” In a video accompanying its announcement, the Eastern Theatre Command called him a “parasite” in English and depicted him as a green bug held by chopsticks over a burning Taiwan.

Taiwan’s government condemned the drills. The presidential office said China was “widely recognized by the international community as a troublemaker” and said Taiwan’s government has the confidence and ability to defend itself.

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying that only the island’s people can decide their future.

Two senior Taiwan officials told Reuters that more than 10 Chinese military ships had approached close to Taiwan’s 24-nautical-mile contiguous zone and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had not detected any live fire by the Chinese military, but that at least 71 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were involved. It said it did not know when the drills would end.

Ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang said Taiwan’s armed forces had elevated their readiness level to ensure that China does not “turn drills into combat” and “launch a sudden attack on us”.

China’s foreign ministry said the drills “are legitimate and necessary actions to defend national sovereignty and safeguard national unity.”

“China’s reunification is an unstoppable trend—it will happen and it must happen,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson, said at a regular news conference on Tuesday.

Taiwan’s stock market brushed off the rise in tensions, with the benchmark index closing up 2.8 percent on Tuesday.

Taiwan Dispatches Warships

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered the island’s response area on Monday, and said it had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.

The drills took place after Mr. Hegseth left the region following visits to Japan and the Philippines, where he criticized China and said Japan was “indispensable” for tackling Chinese aggression.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters, citing internal assessments, that Beijing needed to avoid any “perceived confrontation” with Washington prior to the U.S.-China trade talks, and that Taiwan has become a pretext.

“Taiwan is their best excuse. That’s why they chose to launch such military drills as soon as the U.S. defense secretary left Asia,” the official said.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “The president is emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait, encouraging the peaceful resolution of these cross-strait issues, reiterating our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.”

The de facto U.S. embassy, the American Institute in Taiwan, said the United States will continue to support the island.

“Once again, China has shown that it is not a responsible actor and has no problem putting the region’s security and prosperity at risk,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

‘Closing In’

China’s military released a series of propaganda videos in quick succession after the drill announcement, depicting Chinese warships and fighter jets encircling Taiwan, Taipei being aimed at from above and a barrage of missiles firing into the sky before exploding on their targets.

A video of a poster accompanying the drills, titled “Closing In” and showing Chinese forces surrounding the island, was released on the Eastern Theatre Command’s Weibo.

It was followed by a video titled “Shell”, depicting Taiwan’s Lai as a green cartoon bug spawning parasites across the island, on the Eastern Theatre Command’s WeChat page.

“Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction,” the animation said.

Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said such rhetoric was not conducive to peace and “shows their provocative character”.

A third video, “Subdue Demons and Vanquish Evils,” featured Sun Wukong, the magical monkey king from the Ming Dynasty epic “Journey to the West”, as he is depicted in the “Black Myth: Wukong” hit video game.

It opens with the video’s title flashing across the screen and the Chinese mythical warrior riding on clouds before cutting to footage of Chinese fighter jets.

A fourth poster, released later in the day and titled “Enveloping Advance”, had the Chinese characters of its title covering the island.

Taiwan’s Koo told reporters the PLA should focus first on resolving its issues with corruption instead of destroying peace and stability in the region.

China’s military has undergone a sweeping anti-corruption purge over the past few years, which saw Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu ousted in October 2024.

China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Koo’s remarks.

The Global Times, which is owned by the People’s Daily newspaper of the governing Chinese Communist Party, said the drill had not been given a code name to show that Chinese military forces surrounding the island “has become a normal practice,” citing Zhang Chi of National Defense University.

“Through a series of exercises held in the Taiwan Strait in recent years, the PLA has strongly enhanced its ability to prepare for war and fight battles,” the article on the paper’s Weixin social media page added.