China has launched military exercises around Taiwan, saying the drills were a “stern warning” to separatist forces on the island state.

Iran PressAsia: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army would hold joint naval and air force exercises focused on ship-aircraft coordination to test seizing control of air and sea spaces and “actual combat capabilities,” the eastern theatre command said.

“The armed forces’ ability to fight in real combat conditions will be tested,” a spokesperson for the eastern command told China’s state-run Xinhua news.

“The patrols and exercises serve as a stern warning to the collusion of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists with foreign elements and their provocations,” the spokesperson said, according to Xinhua.

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