China announced Saturday that naval and aerial military exercises were conducted in areas southwest of Taiwan a day earlier for the second time in a month.
Combat ships, early-warning aircraft and bombers were among the forces that joined the exercises "to improve integrated operational capability” in territory southwest of Taiwan, Shi Yi, spokesperson for the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement Saturday, without saying how close to the democratically ruled island the drills were.
Shi said military exercises will be "conducted regularly” based on the situation in the Taiwan Strait and the need to maintain sovereign security. They came the day after Taiwan announced a $9 billion boost to military spending to counter the threat from China.