Taiwan monitor Chinese drills around the island

A Chinese patrol vessel was seen cruising near a Taiwan coast guard ship on Monday (October 14) as China's military launched a new round of war games near Taiwan, saying it was a warning to the "separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces". The Chinese military's Eastern Theatre Command said the "Joint Sword-2024B" drills were taking place in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan. In rare operations, China's coast guard circled Taiwan and staged "law enforcement" patrols close to Taiwan's offshore islands, according to Chinese state media. Taiwan's defence ministry said it will not escalate a conflict in its response to China's military drills, but has raised the alert posture on outlying islands and is watching the movement of China's rocket force. China's irrational and provocative military exercises jeopardise the security situation in the Taiwan Strait and are not conducive to the healthy development of cross-strait relations, the ministry’s spokesperson said. Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, had been on alert for more war games since last week's national day speech by President Lai Ching-te who said China had no right to represent Taiwan, even as he offered to cooperate with Beijing. (Production: Angie Teo, Timothy Sim)