CHINA began military exercises around the breakaway island of Taiwan today, with the People’s Liberation Army saying that the aim was partly to punish separatists for seeking formal independence from the mainland.

Beijing’s action followed the inauguration on Monday of new Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who called on the Chinese government to cease what he described as military intimidation and pledged to “neither yield to nor provoke” the Communist Party leadership.

Taiwan responded to today’s exercises by scrambling warplanes and putting missile, naval and land units on alert.