Mirage fighter jets took off from Taiwan's airbase in Hsinchu Friday morning as China sent military ships and war planes across the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait.
According to the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, several China military planes and navy vessels have crossed what had been an unofficial buffer zone between China and Taiwan for decades.
When speaking to journalists at a ceremony in Taipei, Premier Su Tseng-chang called China "an evil neighbor" and said its military actions caused multiple cancelations on the busiest lanes of international shipping.
Su urged China to focus on taking care of their own people and stop military provocation.
The Chinese exercises involve troops from the navy, air force, rocket force, strategic support force and logistic support force, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
They are believed to be the largest held near Taiwan in geographical terms, with Beijing announcing six exercise zones surrounding the island.
The drills are due to run until Sunday and include missile strikes on targets in the seas north and south of the island in an echo of the last major Chinese military drills aimed at intimidating Taiwan's leaders and voters held in 1995 and 1996.
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