The Chinese Defense Ministry stressed on Friday that China's military maintains full-time combat readiness to stop attempts by outside forces to achieve so-called Taiwan independence.

"The PLA [People's Liberation Army of China] troops maintain full-time combat readiness and are capable of fighting at any time, and will take all necessary measures to resolutely thwart external interference and the 'Taiwan independence' secessionist plot, and resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry affirmed in a statement, citing Spokesperson Wu Qian.

Exercises near Taiwan directed against Taiwanese-US collusion

The ministry pointed out that the patrols and military exercises in the sea and airspace that were conducted by the Chinese army near Taiwan are directed against the provocative Taiwanese-American collusion.

Earlier, Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese Army, confirmed that the Chinese military has conducted several military exercises near Taiwan.

Colonel Shi noted that the United States has lately been taking continuous steps to support Taiwanese separatists calling for "Taiwanese independence", which he said was "absolutely useless and only harms peace in the Taiwan Strait and aggravates regional tensions."

He also stressed that Beijing's forces were ready to defend national sovereignty and security, as well as regional peace and stability by curtailing any attempts to organize "the independence of Taiwan."

China firmly opposes US Senator visit to Taiwan

Commenting on US Senator Rick Scott's visit to Taiwan on June first, the statement indicated that "China firmly opposed such move by the US side, which seriously violated the one-China principle, the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, and severely undermined the political foundation of China-US relations."

It is noteworthy that China sees Taiwan as an inalienable part of its sovereign territories, being very vocal about its opposition to any official contact between Taipei and other nations. 

The United States, on the other hand, has provided Taiwan with numerous weapon systems and supported pro-independence elements there.

Beijing's Foreign Ministry has reiterated on numerous occasions that the one-China principle was a political foundation of US-Sino relations, explaining that the US violated its own obligations and has been jeopardizing bilateral cooperation as well as peace and stability in the region.

Despite having stated that the US will not change its policy regarding China, President Joe Biden angered Beijing by appearing to signal a change in the US policy of "strategic ambiguity" on Taiwan.