Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that Taiwan is not part of the United States but Chinese territory, in the latest diplomatic invective against US policy since a visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The United States has been engaging in "sophistry" on the Taiwan question, and China's actions on Taiwan have been just, appropriate and legal, as well as being aimed at safeguarding the country's sacred sovereignty and territorial integrity, Wang said during a visit to Bangladesh.
Taiwan's defense ministry said it had detected 66 Chinese air force planes and 14 Chinese warships conducting activities in and around the Taiwan Strait on Sunday.
The Chinese military will from now on conduct "regular" drills on the eastern side of the median line of the Strait, Chinese state television reported, citing a commentator.
The median line in the narrow strait between the island of Taiwan and mainland China is an unofficial line of control that military aircraft and battleships from either side normally do not cross.
The median line has never been legally recognized, and is an "imaginary" line drawn up by the US military for their combat requirements in the previous century, according to the state television commentator.
