US President Donald Trump said he is not worried about Beijing's military drills around Taiwan, choosing to instead highlight his rapport with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
I have a great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn't told me anything about [the drills]. I certainly have seen it, Trump told reporters at a press conference on Monday.
No, nothing worries me. They've been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area, he said.
The two-day war games kicked off on Monday - nearly two weeks after the US announced one of its largest-ever arms sales to Taiwan. The sale had angered Beijing, which sees the self-governed island as a breakaway province.
China's military exercises on Tuesday will see it run 10 hours of live-firing exercises in the sea and airspace of five locations surrounding the island.
Its Eastern Theater Command in charge of the Taiwan Strait said it has lined up destroyers, frigates, and fighter-bombers to test the military's sea-air coordination and integrated containment capabilities.
The war games simulate the seizure and blockade of the island's key areas, acting as a warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces and external interference, the Chinese military stated.
Taiwan's presidential office has criticized the drills, calling them a challenge to international norms.
China has long vowed to reunify with Taiwan and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this.
It has in recent years ramped up pressure over Taipei with military drills and regular incursions into its waters and airspace. Taiwan, in turn, plans to boost defense spending to modernize its armed forces.
While Trump has downplayed Beijing's ongoing drills, his administration had recently announced an $11 billion (£8.2 billion) weapons package to Taiwan, which includes advanced rocket launchers, self-propelled howitzers, and a variety of missiles.
The US has formal ties with Beijing rather than Taiwan and has maneuvered diplomatically for decades. Nevertheless, it remains a vital ally of Taiwan and the island's largest arms supplier.
In response to the arms sale, China imposed sanctions on several US defense firms, reiterating that any attempts to contain China by using Taiwan will absolutely not succeed.
