China rebukes US 'intrusion' as Taiwan drills finish
Beijing condemned the United States on Monday, after it sent a guided-missile destroyer through contested parts of the South China Sea.  The US Navy announced the USS Milius had passed near the Spratly Islands, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.  A spokesman for the People's Liberation Army's Southern Command said the vessel had "illegally intruded" into Chinese territorial waters, and that the air force had followed and carried out surveillance on it.  Also on Monday, Beijing said it had "successfully completed" three days of military drills around Taiwan, including simulations of targeted strikes and a blockade of the island.  The drills were held in response to a meeting in California between Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen and the US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.  The exercise "comprehensively tested the integrated joint combat ability of multiple military branches under actual combat conditions", the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Eastern Command said in a statement. It added that Chinese troops were "ready for battle and can fight at any time, and will resolutely smash any form of 'Taiwan independence' separatism and foreign interference attempts". The military said one of China's two aircraft carriers – the Shandong – had participated in maneouvres on Monday, while state media said dozens of planes had practised an "aerial blockade".  A video published by the Eastern Command's official WeChat account showed a pilot saying he had "arrived near the northern part of Taiwan Island", and that missiles were "locked into place". In another video, with a dramatic orchestral accompaniment, planes are shown taking off from the Shandong.  Separately, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned that Taiwanese independence and cross-strait peace were "mutually exclusive". Russia also commented on the drills, with a Kremlin spokesperson saying Beijing had a "sovereign right" to respond to what Moscow deemed "provocative acts". (Agencies)