LIVE – Updated at 13:40
Taiwan also detected 14 Chinese military ships conducting activities around the Taiwan Strait, its defence ministry said.
13:40
The Chinese embassy has warned Australia against involvement in its actions over Taiwan, saying “finger-pointing” against Beijing was unacceptable, reports Reuters.
China launched ballistic missiles during live fire exercises near Taiwan following the controversial visit of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to the island earlier in the week.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said Chinese ships and planes conducted missions in the Taiwan Strait, with some crossing the median line, in what the Taiwan military described as a simulation attack on the island.
Foreign minister Penny Wong on Friday condemned Beijing’s “disproportionate and destabilising” actions, saying she had expressed her concern to her Chinese counterpart at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia.
The Chinese embassy in Australia responded with a spokesperson’s statement on Saturday expressing concern and “discontent” about the remarks from the three countries.
The statement said:
It is absolutely unacceptable for the finger-pointing on China’s justified actions to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Taiwan scrambles jets as Chinese aircraft cross median line
13:01
Taiwan scrambled jets to warn away 20 Chinese aircraft, including 14 that crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, the country’s defence ministry said on Saturday according to Reuters.
Taiwan said China’s military drills appear to simulate an attack on the self-ruled island, AP reports.
Taiwan also detected 14 Chinese military ships conducting activities around the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said in a statement.
12:39 Helen Davidson
Helen Davidson in Taipei reports of further incursions over median line in military drills:
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China’s military has pressed ahead with its largest ever military drills, targeting Taiwan with what the island’s government called a simulated attack, including further incursions over the median line and drone flights over Taiwan’s outlying islands.
Global pushback on China’s live-fire drills, launched in response to a visit by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan earlier in the week, also continued, with condemnation from senior US officials and foreign ministers from Australia and Japan.
Beijing vociferously objected to Pelosi’s visit, which it said affronted its “one China” principle, a domestic policy outlining the government’s territorial claim over democratic and de facto independent Taiwan.
On Saturday, Taiwan’s ministry of defence said it had observed People’s Liberation Army (PLA) planes and ships operating in the Taiwan strait, believing them to be simulating an attack on its main island.