BEIJING, January 25. /TASS/. The Chinese military will not stop conducting routine military maneuvers around Taiwan, Defense Ministry Spokesman Wu Qian said at a briefing.

According to him, China’s People’s LIberation Army (PLA) recently carried out a patrol near the island "to further increase the actual level of combat training of troops and enhance their ability to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"The PLA continues to train troops and make preparations for war, and it will continue to organize related military activities on a regular basis," Wu Qian stated.

The Taiwanese military said on X on January 25 that six vessels and 18 aerial vehicles belonging to the PLA had been detected around the island.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the remaining Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled to the island after suffering a defeat in China’s civil war. Since then, Taiwan has preserved the flag and some other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed in mainland China before the Communists came to power. According to Beijing’s official position supported by most countries, including Russia, the island of Taiwan is one of China’s provinces.