Taiwan describes China's maneuvers as "provocative" and Washington: worrying

Taiwan responded to the military maneuvers conducted by China since Thursday morning around the island with warships and aircraft, saying that they were “provocative actions” and “threaten democracy.”

Taiwanese presidential spokeswoman Karen Kuo said in a statement, "It is unfortunate to see China resort to unilateral and provocative military action that threatens democracy and freedom in Taiwan, as well as regional peace and stability."

Kuo stressed her country's continued "defense of democracy in the face of external challenges and threats."

China's military exercises around Taiwan will continue for two days, and it said that they were "punitive exercises" and in response to what it described as "separatist acts", as it sent heavily armed warplanes and carried out mock attacks.

The exercises, which are taking place in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of islands located adjacent to the Chinese coast, come just three days after the new Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-tei, a man whom Beijing sees as a “separatist,” took office.

In turn, the United States commented on the Chinese military maneuvers as “expected but worrying.”

"We were expecting something like this, frankly, but it's troubling," General Stephen Sklinka, deputy commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told a crowd in the Australian capital, Canberra.

The United States and Taiwan have an informal but strong relationship, and Washington transferred its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, and has long said that it does not support a formal declaration of Taiwan independence. But it considers it an important ally in the region, and provides it with military support.

The island of Taiwan enjoys self-rule, while China considers it part of its territory, and in a speech delivered by the new Taiwanese president, Lai Ching-ti, who was sworn in on May 20, he called on Beijing to stop threats, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described... This call is “disgraceful.”

The last time China announced similar military maneuvers around Taiwan was last August after Lai, then Vice President, stopped in the United States during a visit to Paraguay.