We're shutting down this live page, thank you for sticking with us. We'll leave you with this recap:

• China is holding new war games around Taiwan simulating an assault on the island, further ratcheting up tensions between the two governments
• Warships and fighter jets are taking part in the drills, which according to Beijing serves as a warning to those advocating for Taiwan's independence
• Taiwan has condemned the drills and says its military are "holding its positions" at sea and in the air
• It comes days after Taiwan's president gave a strident speech saying his government would not accept Chinese control
• China has carried out major war drills around Taiwan before, and claims control over the democratic island
• Taiwan's ally, the US, says it is monitoring the situation
• In response Beijing has told the US to stop arming Taiwan and respect the One China policy

This page was edited and written by Gavin Butler, Tessa Wong, Joel Guinto and Fan Wang in Singapore, with contributions from Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Taipei, Stephen McDonell in Beijing and Frank Gardner in London.

Today's exercises are the latest in China's displays of military might around Taiwan.

So far, the manoeuvres have fallen short of an invasion and stayed within a grey zone, which is military speak for tactics that fall between war and peace.

But Taiwan is now seen as a tinderbox in what has become a volatile US-China relationship - and analysts say grey zone tactics are part of Beijing's strategy to control Taipei without firing a single shot.

Read more about China's greyzone warfare here.

China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has said that Taiwan is "not a diplomatic matter", following queries about the military drills at the ministry's daily press conference.

Mao added that "Taiwan independence" and peace in the Taiwan strait were "incompatible", and that "provocations" by those supporting Taiwan independence "will inevitably be countered".

She added that the US - Taiwan's biggest ally - must respect the One China policy, in response to Washington's statement that it is monitoring today's drills closely.

"The US should stop arming Taiwan and stop sending any wrong signals to the pro-independence forces in Taiwan," she said.

The One China policy is the diplomatic acknowledgement of China's position that there is only one Chinese government. Under the policy, the US recognises and has formal ties with China rather than Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province to be unified with the mainland one day.

Image source, EPA

Despite warnings from China against voting for William Lai, millions of Taiwanese elected him president in January.

Beijing has called him a "troublemaker" and a dangerous "separatist". His most recent rhetoric is seen to have led to China holding fresh military exercises around the self-ruled island.

Who is William Lai and what is the future of China-Taiwan relations under his watch? Read more in our explainer.

Today's drills mark the second time China has held a military exercise around Taiwan in five months.

The first took place in May. Dubbed Joint Sword 2024A, it focused on encircling the island and simulating a full-scale attack, minus the actual landing of troops.

That was held right after Taiwanese President William Lai was sworn into office, and was seen as an indication of just how much Beijing dislikes him.

Here's a recap analysing the May drills.

Beijing has accused a Taiwanese organisation and two high-profile figures behind it for allegedly supporting Taiwanese independence.

Kuma Academy is a group set up in 2021 aiming to provide civilian defence training to Taiwanese and prepare them in the event of an invasion. It is now considered a "base for Taiwan independence", said China's Taiwan Affairs Office in a statement published by state media Xinhua a few hours ago.

The office also said it has added Kuma Academy's co-founder Puma Shen and its main backer Robert Tsao, to their list of Taiwan independence "die hards".

The sanctions include prohibiting them and their families from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. China has also blocked Kuma Academy, Shen and Tsao from working with any Chinese organisations and people.

Puma Shen is a lawmaker from Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party and a leading researcher of information warfare in Taiwan. Robert Tsao is a tech billionaire who pledged millions of dollars to the group, and has been vocal against China's mounting pressure on the island in recent years.

You can read our 2022 interview with Robert Tsao here.

Image source, Getty Images

Good morning to our audiences in the UK and Europe. Here's a a quick catch-up on what you have missed:

• China is holding new war games around Taiwan simulating an assault on the island, further ratcheting up tensions between the two governments
• Warships and fighter jets are taking part in the drills, which according to Beijing serves as a warning to those advocating for Taiwan's independence
• Taiwan has condemned the drills and says it is ready to defend itself
• It comes days after Taiwan's president gave a strident speech saying his government would not accept Chinese control
• China has carried out major war drills around Taiwan before, and claims control over the democratic island
• Taiwan's ally,the US, says it is monitoring the situation

The Taiwanese defence ministry has released footage of its military responding to the Chinese drills.

It shows air defence launchers, military vehicles and a naval vessel being manoeuvred into position.

Earlier, the ministry said the Taiwanese military would monitor Chinese threats but avoid any escalation or direct clashes.

Image source, Taiwan Ministry of Defence

Image source, Taiwan Ministry of Defence

Image source, Taiwan Ministry of Defence

With today's exercise, China is sending a message to Taiwanese President William Lai that moves towards "Taiwan independence" are bound to meet a "dead end", an analyst told Chinese state media.

The drills aim to have a "more intense deterrent effect" on what China considers as "separatist forces", Professor Zhang Chi from China PLA National Defence University tells CCTV.

"The more the separatist forces dare to provoke, the further the PLA will advance. The closer the separatists align with external forces, the tighter the chain of Taiwan's blockade will become," he says.

Taiwan's President William Lai has released a new statement saying the country's military and coast guard are "holding their positions" at sea and in the air amid ongoing Chinese military exercises.

He says the Chinese drills are "intended to disrupt regional peace and stability" and constitute an attempt to coerce China's regional neighbours by using force.

The statement goes on to say the government will protect Taiwan's democratic system and national security "in the face of external threats".

His office had earlier this morning said China should "refrain from military provocations".

The Chinese military says it launched this round of exercises in response to remarks made by Lai in a speech a few days ago, in which he vowed to resist any efforts to exert control over Taiwan.

"Scared" and "desensitised" - here's how people on the streets of Taipei are talking about China's fresh wave of military exercises around the self-ruled island.

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

These military drills by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are all about intimidation.

Beijing has long vowed to "reunify" Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary, and to do so well before the centenary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2049.

Ideally, it would like this to happen without a shot being fired in anger and for Taipei to voluntarily submit to its rule - but Taiwan’s population has watched aghast at the recent suppression of democracy across the water in Hong Kong, and most people are even less keen than before on being ruled by a one-party Communist autocracy.

Beijing’s response is to remind Taiwan of its overwhelming strategic superiority. It has recently embarked on a massive military build-up in all areas: hypersonic missiles, aircraft carriers, nuclear warheads and fifth generation combat aircraft. The PLA Navy is now the largest in the world and still growing.

And yet a full-scale invasion of Taiwan would be something of a last resort for the CCP. It would be hugely costly, both in terms of manpower and economic damage to the global economy.

For Beijing there is also the big unknown factor: just how far is the US prepared to go to defend Taiwan?

Taiwan's coast guard says it has detained a Chinese person after a possible "intrusion" on one of its outlying islands, AFP news agency reports.

The arrest on the island of Menghu comes amid China's ongoing mass military drills at several locations encircling Taiwan's main island.

A statement says the man attempted to cross to the small island, which is only a few miles off the coast of China, in a rubber dinghy.

"It is not ruled out that the small boat stowaway attempt could be a grey zone intrusion linked to the military exercise," a statement from the agency continues.

While Taiwan's main island comprises the vast majority of its overall territory and is home to most of its population, the Taiwanese government has jurisdiction over dozens of other smaller islands.

The military drills have been the most trending topic on both sides of the Taiwan Strait today, according to Google Search and Weibo.

But the online reactions are largely different.

On Weibo, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV posted a picture of a sword slicing across the Chinese character for "independence", saying "Taiwan must return".

Under that post, the top comment - which was liked by more than 2,000 users - reads "Safeguard the unification of the motherland, there is only one China".

Meanwhile, in Taiwan, reactions ranged from impassive to enraged.

Taiwanese news commentator Huang Wei-han wrote that many on the island were prepared for the drills, as the US had warned China would use President Lai's recent speech as "an opportunity to conduct military exercises against Taiwan."

"I believe most Taiwanese people are already mentally prepared - nothing to worry too much about," he wrote.

Others expressed greater concern, with one Facebook user writing "Look at main ports; the military exercise is almost at our doorstep."

On Threads, a user said: "Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense needs to do something! Don’t be a punching bag! I’m so angry I could cry."

Among the flood of commentaries and remarks from the Chinese side today is an analysis on something different about the drills this time: the starting hour.

The drills started before dawn today, Beijing says. And the reason, according to one Chinese military expert, is to show more teeth.

In a video released by CCTV-affiliated social media account Yuyuan Tantian, Fu Zhengnan of the PLA Academy of Military Science said a new notable feature of today's drills is its focus on simulating "all-weather" conditions, which makes "atmosphere of real combat even stronger".

The operations were launched before dawn and during night time, and the forces were ready to shift from training to combat "at any moment", he said.

Image source, CCTV via Weibo

Drills aim to simulate a blockade on Taiwanpublished at 05:44 British Summer Time 14 October

05:44 BST 14 October

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
in Taipei

Since 2022 the tempo of Chinese operations has remained high, with daily incursions across the median line going up and down depending on what signals China wants to send – to its own people, to Taiwan and to Taiwan’s allies. And since Lai Ching-Te’s election in January, the tempo of operations has increased again – quite dramatically.

In May 2024, after President Lai’s inauguration, further large scale drills were announced – Joint Sword 2024A – they were described by China as its largest so far, combined operations air and sea and missile forces, which “surrounded” Taiwan from all sides – simulating a blockade.

Today we are seeing the long-expected Joint Sword 2024B – which China is describing as again surrounding Taiwan with combined operations practising to fight in "all weather conditions". It is actually very good weather in and around Taiwan this week, so that claim seems more rhetorical than real.

A quick history of current China-Taiwan tensionspublished at 05:40 British Summer Time 14 October

05:40 BST 14 October

Rupert Wingfield-Hayes
in Taipei

The recent history of China’s military intimidation of Taiwan goes back to 1996, after Taiwan held its first direct presidential elections. China declared several areas around Taiwan off limits, and fired short-range ballistic missiles into those areas off the north and south coasts. US President Bill Clinton quietly moved US Navy forces into the Taiwan strait to demonstrate to Beijing that the US would prevent an attack on the island.

Tensions eased considerably between 2008 and 2016 - until the leader of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Tsai Ing-wen was elected as president. China considers the DPP to be a hard line pro-independence party, and responded by cutting off all direct contacts with the government in Taipei.

That situation has remained ever since.

In August 2022 US house speaker Nancy Pelosi flew into Taipei – the first time a sitting house speaker had visited the island since 1997. Pelosi’s visit and her open support for Taiwan was seen by Beijing as a huge provocation – coming close to a formal recognition of the government here by a very senior US politician.

It reacted with fury – holding two days of exercises and for the first time ever flying ballistic missiles over the island and in to the Pacific Ocean.

Footage released by the AFP news agency captures Taiwanese fighter jets taking off and landing at Hsinchu air base at the north-east of the island.

They also filmed a military land vehicle being manoeuvred at the base.

Earlier, the Taiwanese defence ministry confirmed aircraft and ships have been deployed in response to the large Chinese military deployment off its coast.

Image source, Reuters

The military exercises off the coast of Taiwan are not the only ones China is involved in today.

Elsewhere, the Chinese navy has held joint military drills with Russia, according to the Interfax news agency.

It says Russian and Chinese warships carried out "combat exercises with practical shooting during anti-submarine and air defence exercises" in the north-west Pacific Ocean.

China and Russia have carried out several joint military exercises in recent months as Moscow and Beijing seek to deepen security ties.

In July, Russian and Chinese jets staged their first ever joint bomber patrol in skies close to the US.

Image source, Russian Defence Ministry

US President Joe Biden's administration says it is monitoring China's military exercises around Taiwan, Reuters news agency reports.

The administration said there was no justification for the drills after Lai's "routine" speech, and that China should avoid further actions which may jeopardise peace and stability in the region.

"We call on the PRC to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, which is essential to regional peace and prosperity and a matter of international concern," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, using the initials for the People's Republic of China, China's official name.