In major military exercise, China simulates sealing off Taiwan’s ports [Video]

China employed a record 125 aircraft, as well as its Liaoning aircraft carrier and ships, in large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands Monday, simulating the sealing off of key ports in a move that underscores the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait, officials said.

China’s Defence Ministry said the drills were a response to the Taiwanese president’s refusal to accept Beijing’s demand that self-governed Taiwan acknowledge itself as a part of the People’s Republic of China under the rule of the Communist Party.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said 90 of the aircraft, including warplanes, helicopters and drones, were spotted within Taiwan’s air defence identification zone. The single-day record counted aircraft from 5:02 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time. Shipping traffic was operating as normal, the ministry said.

The drills came four days after Taiwan celebrated the founding of its government on its National Day, when Taiwanese …