China holds live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait

The first line is cutting off the lifeline of energy and resource imports for 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces. The second line is blocking the support line of external assistance to these forces,

Zhang said

We have full confidence and sufficient capability to deter 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities and jointly achieve national reunification,

the spokesperson added

We are concerned by China’s military exercises around Taiwan, part of a pattern of activity which is increasing tensions and risking dangerous escalation in the Taiwan Strait,

a spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office said

Such political manipulation only forces the people of Taiwan to bear greater risks and costs,

Zheng said

Although the current drills are military in nature, they also serve as a real warning. They tell the people of Taiwan that the DPP authorities, for their own political interests, are willing to put the entire island in danger,

Zheng said

The current drill has already placed Taiwan island in a quasi-blockade situation,

Zheng said

The PLA's evolving drill patterns - marked by increased unpredictability - have left the 'Taiwan independence' forces unable to anticipate its actions, subjecting them to growing psychological pressure,

Zheng said

The biggest highlight of today's drills is the long-range live-fire drills, which serve as a powerful deterrence against 'Taiwan independence' forces. After years of development, the PLA's comprehensive capabilities kept rising, as its ability to fight and win continues to increase, sufficient enough to smash 'Taiwan independence' forces into pieces,

Fu from the Academy of Military Science said

As long as Taiwan independence separatists dare to cross the line, the PLA will definitely act,

Meng told state broadcaster CCTV

Zhang Xiaogangchinese Defense Ministry spokesperson

Pursuing Taiwan independence will only endanger Taiwan and plunge Taiwan compatriots into an abyss of misery,

said Chinese Ministry of Defence spokesman Zhang Xiaogang in a statement Wednesday

No matter what the name is, it cannot cover up the naked provocative nature of the drills and their mentality of threatening Taiwan’s people,

Taiwan defense ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told reporters in Taipei

Beijing sees Taiwan, the democratic ruled island, as a breakaway Chinese province, and President Xi Jinping has said time and time again, that whether by peaceful means or by force, it will be unified again with mainland China,

Yu said

Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te has condemned the drills. He says, this is only demonstrating that China is a troublemaker in this region,

Yu added

Tammy Brucestate Department spokesperson

In the face of China’s intimidation tactics and destabilizing behavior, the United States’ enduring commitment to our allies and partners, including Taiwan, continues,

Bruce said in a statement

Taiwan is vulnerable from an energy point of view and China is playing up that vulnerability,

Dylan Loh at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University told AFP

Taiwan's depth is shallow and has no buffer zone. Taiwan is also short of resources,

Major General Meng Xiangqing, professor at the PLA National Defence University, told state broadcaster CCTV

The containment and control drills are designed to test the ability to restrict supply routes to Taiwan and deter foreign commercial vessels from docking,

said Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at Taipei's Institute for National Defense and Security Research

The opponent won't know which card we will play, including when we'll play it,

Fu Zhengnan, an expert at the Chinese military's Academy of Military Science, told CCTV

The message to international shipping is that all destinations are open -- as long as they're not Taiwan,

he added

The PLA is becoming more and more like an unpredictable magician,

he said