In response to the controversial visit of the vice president of Taiwan to America, 42 Chinese fighters and eight ships started military exercises around Taiwan this morning (Saturday).

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): The Ministry of Defense of Taiwan announced today (Saturday, August 19, 2023) that it detected 42 aircraft and eight Chinese ships during a military exercise around the island of Taiwan, beginning this morning.
 
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that a group of 26 Chinese fighter jets crossed the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, local media reported.
 
In this regard, Reuters news agency reported that China started its military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday as a "serious warning" to the separatist forces, which is a kind of Beijing's reaction to the visit of Taiwan's Vice President William Lai to the United States of America.
 
Lai, the leading candidate for next January's presidential election in Taiwan, returned from the United States yesterday (Friday).
 
China's People's Liberation Army's Eastern Command announced in a brief statement that it will conduct joint air and naval combat readiness patrols around Taiwan.
 
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense announced that it has deployed its ships and aircraft in the region in response to the patrolling of Chinese warships and ships.
 
China's military has announced that the country's joint air and sea drills, focusing on ship-aircraft cooperation, control and anti-submarine drills, have been conducted in northwestern and southwestern Taiwan to test the "real combat capabilities" of Chinese forces.
 
China's Eastern Command has released images of its joint air and naval exercise, showing Chinese J-16, J-10 fighter jets and destroyers patrolling around Taiwan.
 
Taiwan is considered a part of China that has separatist claims; Claims that the countries of the world and the United Nations do not recognize. Beijing has always opposed any contact between Taiwanese representatives and Western officials, especially high-ranking political or military officials from countries with which Beijing has diplomatic ties, saying such visits violate the one-China principle and send the wrong signals to Taiwan's separatist forces.
 
However, despite Beijing's repeated warnings, some Western countries, including the United States, by holding meetings with Taiwanese officials and sending equipment to the island, provoke Taiwan to pursue separatist goals, and China has repeatedly conducted large-scale military exercises in response to these actions.