China began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan on Tuesday as a "stern warning" against separatism. Recently, Taiwan’s leader Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force", Reuters reports, quoted by IPN.

"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," said the Eastern Theater Command.

The Taiwanese authorities condemned the exercises, saying Beijing is widely recognized by the international community as a troublemaker and that Taipei's leaders have the confidence and capacity to defend themselves.

Taiwan rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, noting that only the island's citizens can decide their future.

Two senior Taiwan officials told Reuters that more than 10 Chinese military ships had approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44 km) contiguous zone and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond.

However, Taiwan has not detected any live fire by the Chinese military, one of the officials said.

The conflict between China and Taiwan has its origins in the civil war between Mao Zedong's communist fighters and Chiang Kaď-shek's nationalist forces, who fled to Taiwan in 1949 after the defeat.

Photo source: Taiwan Defense Ministry, via Agence France-Presse