In major military exercise, China simulates sealing off Taiwan's ports

China employed a record 125 aircraft, as well as its Liaoning aircraft carrier and ships, in large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands Monday, simulating the sealing off of key ports in a move that underscores the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait, officials said.

China's Defence Ministry said the drills were a response to the Taiwanese president's refusal to accept Beijing's demand that self-governed Taiwan acknowledge itself as a part of the People's Republic of China under the rule of the Communist Party.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence said 90 of the aircraft, including warplanes, helicopters and drones, were spotted within Taiwan's air defence identification zone. The single-day record counted aircraft from 5:02 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time. Shipping traffic was operating as normal, the ministry said.

The drills came four days after Taiwan celebrated the founding of its government on its National Day, when Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said in a speech that China has no right to represent Taiwan and declared his commitment to "resist annexation or encroachment."

"Our military will definitely deal with the threat from China appropriately," Joseph Wu, secretary general of Taiwan's security council, said at a forum in Taipei, Taiwan's capital. "Threatening other countries with force violates the basic spirit of the United Nations Charter to resolve disputes through peaceful means."

Taiwan's Presidential Office called on China to "cease military provocations that undermine regional peace and stability and stop threatening Taiwan's democracy and freedom."

A map aired on China's state broadcaster CCTV showed six large blocks encircling Taiwan indicating where the military drills were being held, along with circles drawn around Taiwan's outlying islands.

Taiwan's Defence Ministry said the six areas focused on key strategic locations around and on the island.

China deployed its Liaoning aircraft carrier for the drills, and CCTV showed a J-15 fighter jet taking off from the deck of the carrier, though the exact location of the ship is unclear.

WATCH | Taiwan looks to strengthen informal ties with Canada:

China's People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command spokesperson Senior Captain Li Xi said the navy, army air force and missile corps were all mobilized for the drills, which were an integrated operation.

"This is a major warning to those who back Taiwan independence and a signifier of our determination to safeguard our national sovereignty," Li said in a statement on the service's public media channel.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing that China did not consider relations with Taiwan a diplomatic issue, in keeping with its refusal to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state.

"I can tell you that Taiwan independence is as incompatible with peace in the Taiwan Strait as fire with water. Provocation by the Taiwan independence forces will surely be met with countermeasures," Mao said.