TAIPEI, Taiwan — China staged mock missile strikes and dispatched fighter jets carrying live missiles along with bombers on Friday, as part of exercises Beijing has said were launched to punish Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The bombers established several attack formations in waters east of Taiwan, conducting simulated attacks in coordination with naval vessels, CCTV reported. These exercises tested China’s ability to "seize power" and control key areas of Taiwan.

The two days of drills in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast commenced just three days after Lai took office on Monday. Taiwan has condemned China’s actions.

China considers democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has labeled Lai a "separatist." Beijing strongly criticized his inauguration speech, in which he urged China to cease its threats and asserted that the two sides of the strait are "not subordinate to each other."

The Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) stated that the exercises, dubbed "Joint Sword — 2024A," were intended to "test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks, and occupy key areas."

"This action is completely reasonable, legal, and necessary to combat the arrogance of ‘Taiwan independence’ and deter the interference and intervention of external forces," said Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China’s defense ministry.

China’s coast guard reported conducting "law enforcement drills" in waters east of Taiwan on Friday, focusing on verification and identification, warning, and repulsion training.

Chinese vessel Nantong carried out combat readiness patrol and practical drill missions in the Taiwan Strait, with Taiwanese ship Zheng He trailing 0.6 nautical miles behind, CCTV noted.

A public relations officer of the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet stated it was monitoring "all activities" in the Indo-Pacific and takes "very seriously" its responsibility to deter aggression in the region.

Taiwan and the United States have no official diplomatic relationship, as Washington formally recognizes Beijing. However, the U.S. is legally bound to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and is the island’s most important international backer.

Speaking in Taipei, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung asserted that the island would not succumb to pressure.

"We will not make any concessions because of this Chinese military exercise, as it concerns the development of democracy in Taiwan," he said.

The Chinese theater command released an animated video on Friday via its WeChat social media account, depicting missiles being launched at Taiwan from ground, air, and sea, which then hit the cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Hualien in explosions. CCTV later reported that China staged mock missile attacks on Taiwan using dozens of missiles.

"Sacred weapons to kill independence," read the words in red, written in the traditional Chinese characters used in Taiwan, at the end of the animation.

Taiwan’s armed forces have mobilized to monitor and shadow Chinese forces.

Taiwan’s defense ministry on Friday published images of F-16s armed with live missiles patrolling the skies.

It also displayed images of Chinese coast guard vessels and Chinese Jiangdao-class corvettes, although it did not specify the locations where the images were captured.

The ministry reported that as of 6 a.m. on Friday, it had detected 49 Chinese military aircraft, 19 navy vessels, and seven coast guard ships. Of the aircraft, 35 crossed the strait’s median line, an unofficial barrier which China does not recognize.

The closest Chinese aircraft approached Taiwan’s coast was 40 nautical miles from the northern city and naval base of Keelung, according to a map provided by the ministry.

Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. He maintains that only Taiwan’s 23 million people can decide their future and rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Taiwan is accustomed to China’s military threats, and the latest drills have not caused undue alarm on the island, with life continuing as normal.

Taiwanese media have reported on the drills but have also focused significantly on the ongoing drama surrounding contested parliament reforms that have brought thousands to the streets in protest.

On China’s highly regulated Weibo social media site, "Eastern Theater" was the top searched item, with most comments supporting the drills. Another hot topic was "the return of Taiwan."

Analysts, regional diplomats, and senior Taiwan officials observed that the scale of the drills was smaller than similar exercises in 2022 and that they were widely anticipated by Taiwanese and foreign officials. However, they noted that the drills still posed a risk of accidents or miscalculations.