Chinese military to stage drills around Taiwan to warn 'external forces'

Hong Kong: The Chinese military said on Monday it was dispatching air, navy and rocket troops to conduct joint military drills around Taiwan to warn against what it called separatist and "external interference" forces.

The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at a statement by Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, that its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that the world's second-biggest economy says must come under its rule. But the Chinese military did not mention Japan in its statement on Monday morning.

Taiwan, an island off the southeastern coast of China, separated from the mainland in 1949 amid Civil War. It has operated since then with its own government, though the mainland's government claims it as sovereign territory.