China: Military drills near Taiwan were ‘necessary’ to defend sovereignty

China’s military says recent military drills near Taiwan were “necessary action” to safeguard Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity.

 in a statement on Thursday, Zhang Chunhui, a spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), also said that the Chinese military would take any measure necessary to counter provocative actions that could result in Taiwan’s independence from mainland China.

Zhang also said that “a certain major country” had been continuously making negative moves regarding Taiwan and sending the wrong signals to the advocates of independence in Taiwan — an apparent reference to the United States. Such moves, he said, severely threaten peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

The comments came shortly after US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar made a three-day trip to Taiwan on Sunday, the highest-level visit by a US official to the self-ruled island since 1979, when the region returned from British to Chinese rule and the United States recognized Chinese sovereignty over the island.

China has sovereignty over Taiwan; and under the “One China” policy, almost all world countries — including the United States — recognize that sovereignty.

China firmly opposes any official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan.