China Warns Taiwan, Calls President "Parasite"
China's military on Tuesday said it had begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence", calling Taiwan's President Lai Ching-Te a "parasite".
More than 10 Chinese military ships have approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4 kilometre) contiguous zone, and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwan officials told Reuters.
Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said.
The exercises around the democratically governed island, which China views as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring under its control, come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month.
China detests Lai as a "separatist," and in a video accompanying the Eastern Theater Command's announcement depicted him as cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan.
"The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes," the Eastern Theater Command said on its official WeChat social media account.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that China's Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered its response area on Monday, adding the group had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.
"The Chinese Communist Party has continued to increase its military activities around Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific region... and has become the biggest 'troublemaker' in the international community," the statement added.
Taiwan's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China depicting Lai as a bug.
A series of propaganda videos were released in quick succession after the announcement, depicting Chinese warships and fighter jets encircling the island, Taipei being aimed at from above, and military vehicles patrolling city streets.
A poster accompanying the drills titled "Closing In," and showing Chinese warships and fighter jets circling the island, was released shortly after the announcement on the Eastern Theater Command's Weibo.
This was followed by a video titled "Shell", and depicting Lai Ching-Te as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan, on the Eastern Theater Command's WeChat page.
"Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction," the animation said.
(Reuters - Reporting by Joe Cash in Beijing and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry. Additional reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Christopher Cushing)