China launched military drills around Taiwan as 71 Chinese military aircraft crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, in what Beijing called a "stern warning" after the island's leader met U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Dubbed "United Sharp Sword," the three-day operation – which state media said includes rehearsing an encirclement of Taiwan – will run until Monday, the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.

Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen immediately denounced the drills, pledging to work with "the U.S. and other like-minded countries" in the face of "continued authoritarian expansionism."

China's war games would send planes, ships and personnel into "the maritime areas and air space of the Taiwan Strait, off the northern and southern coasts of the island, and to the island's east," said Shi Yin, a PLA spokesman.

A report from state broadcaster CCTV said: "The task force will simultaneously organize patrols and advances around Taiwan island, shaping an all-round encirclement and deterrence posture."

The report went on to detail the type of weaponry China was putting through its paces, including "long-range rocket artillery, naval destroyers, missile boats, air force fighters, bombers, jammers and refuellers."

Taiwan released a video showing soldiers loading anti-aircraft missile launchers, fighter jets taking off, and other military preparedness exercises.

The footage included surveillance of China's Shandong aircraft carrier, which sailed through waters south of Taiwan earlier this week.

The 75-second clip, which included English subtitles, ended with a caption saying: "We seek neither escalation nor conflict, but we remain steadfast, rational, and serious to react and defend our territory and sovereignty."

Live-fire

Exercises on Monday will include live-fire drills off the coast of China's Fujian province, which faces Taiwan, the local maritime authority said.

The manoeuvres come after a meeting between Tsai and U.S. House Speaker McCarthy in California.

China views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to seize it one day, by force if necessary.

"These operations serve as a stern warning against the collusion between separatist forces seeking 'Taiwan independence' and external forces and against their provocative activities," the PLA's Shi said.

"The operations are necessary for safeguarding China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Taiwan said that on Saturday nine Chinese warships and 71 military aircraft had been detected around the island.

An earlier tally had already taken the number of daily aircraft crossings into Taiwan's southwestern air defence identification zone (ADIZ) past the highest in a single day this year, according to data collected by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) deliberately created tension in the Taiwan Strait, which... has a negative impact on the security and economic development of the international community," the defence ministry said.

The drills also follow the departure from Beijing of French President Emmanuel Macron and E.U. chief Ursula von der Leyen, who were in China to urge Xi Jinping to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

'We will never yield'

China deployed warships, missiles and fighter jets around Taiwan last August in its largest show of force in years, following a trip to the island by McCarthy's predecessor, Nancy Pelosi.

McCarthy, who is second in line to the U.S. presidency, had originally planned to go to Taiwan himself.

The decision to meet in California instead was viewed as a compromise that would underscore support for Taiwan but avoid inflaming tensions with Beijing.

There were no immediate signs on Saturday of heightened military activity on the southeastern Chinese island of Pingtan, the country's closest point to Taiwan.

A handful of cargo ships cruised through the waters near the coastline, while tourists in sunglasses and baseball caps snapped selfies on viewing platforms.

Tsai returned to Taiwan on Friday after visiting her island's dwindling band of official diplomatic allies in Latin America, with two U.S. stopovers that included meetings with McCarthy and other lawmakers.

Hours before Tsai met McCarthy on Wednesday, China sent the carrier Shandong through Taiwan's southeastern waters on its way to the western Pacific.

Beijing said Friday that "Taiwan is an inseparable part of China," after repeatedly warning against the Tsai-McCarthy meeting.

"The future of Taiwan lies in reunification with the motherland," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing.

Chinese military commentator Song Zhongping said the exercises were intended to demonstrate that the Chinese army will be ready, if "provocation intensifies," to "solve the Taiwan issue once and for all."

James Char, research fellow at the China Program Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore, said the drills underlined Beijing's "nationalist credentials to its domestic audience and score political points at home."

"It would also be remiss to overlook the fact that the PLA has only begun its drills this time after French President Emmanuel Macron had concluded his state visit to China," he told AFP.