The Chinese army on Sunday simulated a sequence of “precision strikes” in opposition to key targets in Taiwan, as Chinese battleships, fighter jets and drones carried out a second straight day of main drills simply miles from the island.

China’s state-run China Daily newspaper reported that the army’s Eastern Theater Command oversaw the drills, which seem to simulate the early levels of a direct assault on Taiwan.

“After testing the forces’ capability of seizing dominance at sea, in the air and in the information domain on Saturday, multiple types of units carried out simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on the island and the surrounding sea areas, and continue to maintain a situation of deterrence and suppression around the island,” the newspaper mentioned, summarizing feedback from People’s Liberation Army officers.

“During the drill on Sunday, destroyers, frigates and missile boats worked closely to track simulated targets … southwest of the island. The patrol ships then surrounded the targets from all directions,” the paper mentioned.

During the drills, Chinese ships reportedly got here inside simply 5 nautical miles of Taiwanese vessels.

Sunday marked the second day of China’s main drills within the Taiwan Strait. A day earlier, at the least 45 Chinese warplanes crossed into Taiwanese airspace. A complete of 71 Chinese People’s Liberation Army plane and 9 vessels concerned within the workout routines have been detected by Taiwanese protection forces on Saturday alone.

Taiwanese protection forces “have monitored the situation and tasked our assets to respond to these provocative activities,” the National Defense Ministry mentioned in a press release on Twitter.

China introduced that it might perform the three-day “combat readiness patrols” as a warning to these advocating for Taiwanese independence after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California final week.

Chinese leaders have fumed over the go to. The Biden administration mentioned the assembly shouldn't be utilized by Beijing as pretext for any aggression round Taiwan.

But the weekend drills recommend a China prepared to take extra provocative actions. Some key U.S. lawmakers imagine Beijing could also be finishing up rehearsals for much more drastic steps.

“I think they’re setting the stage possibly for a blockade of Taiwan, that the Communist Chinese Party is going to test us dramatically this year and next year before the [U.S. presidential] election,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, instructed “Fox News Sunday.”

“I am fearful the Chinese may be setting conditions to blockade Taiwan in the coming months or weeks,” Mr. Graham mentioned. “We need to respond forcefully if they do that.”

Among different steps, Mr. Graham mentioned the U.S. ought to impose a blockade on oil shipments to China from the Middle East.

— Joseph Clark contributed to this report.

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