TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The People's Liberation Army (PLA) announced the large-scale “Joint Sword-2024B” military exercises around Taiwan were completed 13 hours after starting on Monday (Oct. 14).

The PLA announced the drills at 5 a.m. on Monday. At 6 p.m., Eastern Theater Command Spokesperson Li Xihai (李熹海) said they were “successfully completed.”

Li said the PLA finished testing its joint operation capabilities. He said China will continue to bolster its combat capabilities through training and will "foil the 'Taiwan Independence' separatist attempts."

The PLA streamed footage of Xiamen Bay combined with an animated video titled “Strangle” depicting Chinese military forces surrounding Taiwan. The US State Department expressed concern about the exercise and described it as “unwarranted and risks escalation” following President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) National Day speech. 

China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said, “provocations by Taiwan independence forces will be responded (to) with countermeasures." Mao said the US should honor its commitment not to support Taiwan independence, stop arming Taiwan, and “stop sending any wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”

On Monday morning, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) held national security meetings to assess the situation and formulate a response. The Presidential Office called on Beijing to cease the military drills and said, “China should face the reality of the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and respect the Taiwanese people's choice of a democratic and free way of life."

This marks the second large-scale military exercise surrounding Taiwan the PLA has conducted since Lai took office on May 20.