China has finished simulating “sealing off” Taiwan for three days of drills as it appeared to use an aircraft carrier to launch jets towards the island.
Taiwan said it had detected jets to its east, while China said its Shandong aircraft carrier had taken part.
Beijing began the exercises on Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met the US House Speaker in California.
The drills have not been as big as those that followed Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last August.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state. China sees it as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing’s control – by force, if necessary.
On Monday, China said its drills had ended successfully. Taiwan had earlier said it had spotted another 70 warplanes and 11 ships in its surrounding waters.
A map of flight paths released by Taiwan’s defence ministry showed four J-15 fighter jets to the island’s east – suggesting that the Chinese military is for the first time simulating strikes from the east, rather than the west where China’s mainland lies.
Analysts said it was likely the jets had come from China’s Shandong aircraft carrier – one of two such carriers it possesses – which is currently deployed in the western Pacific ocean, about 320km (200 miles) from Taiwan.
The Chinese military confirmed on Monday in a statement that the Shandong had “participated” in Monday’s exercises. It said fighter planes loaded with live ammunition had “carried out multiple waves of simulated strikes on important targets”.
Japan’s defence ministry said on Monday that the Shandong had also conducted air operations in the preceding days.
Jet fighters and helicopters took off and landed on the carrier 120 times between Friday and Sunday, the Japanese ministry said.
Also on Monday the US sent the USS Milius, a guided-missile destroyer, through part of the South China Sea about 1,300km (800 miles) south of Taiwan.
