HONG KONG, October 22. /TASS/. China’s live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday morning could be a reaction to the recent passage of US and Canadian warships through this waterway, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.

Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow at Taiwan’s Institute of National Defense and Security Research, said the drills represented a "political signal" from Beijing. China considers the Taiwan Strait its internal waters and has protested against transits by foreign military vessels.

Similar incidents happened before, according to the researcher. In April 2023, China’s People’s Liberation Army staged similar live-fire exercises near the Pingtan Island following a meeting between Tsai Ing-wen, who then headed Taiwan’s administration, and then-US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, he said.

In July 2022, the PLA engaged in live-fire drills in the area ahead of a visit by then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei.

China's Maritime Safety Administration announced on Monday that the PLA would conduct live-fire drills in the waters off the eastern province of Fujian on Tuesday morning. The drills, which lasted four hours, took place near Niushan Island, the closest point between mainland China and Taiwan, with about 120 kilometers separating them.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the Kuomintang’s remaining forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) were defeated in the Chinese Civil War and took refuge on the island. Taiwan has preserved the flag and several other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed before the Communists took over the mainland. Beijing regards the island as one of its provinces, a stance supported by most other countries including Russia.