China drills around Taiwan continue, gives them code name 'Strait Thunder'

Beijing, China/Taipei, Taiwan - China's military on Wednesday launched military exercises code-named "Strait Thunder-2025A" in the middle and southern areas of the Taiwan Strait, continuing drills begun the previous day.

"The exercises focus on subjects of identification and verification, warning and expulsion, and interception and detention so as to test the troops' capabilities of area regulation and control, joint blockade and control, and precision strikes on key targets," the military said in a statement.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters there were more than 10 Chinese warships in Taiwan's "response zone" on Wednesday morning, and that China's coast guard was participating with "harassment" drills.

China had not formally named Tuesday's drills. China called two rounds of major war games last year around the island "Joint Sword-2024A" and "Joint Sword-2024B".

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, despite the objections of the government in Taipei.

China says Taiwan President Lai Ching-te is a "separatist". Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

(Reporting by Joe Cash, Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Stephen Coates)