<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">China said it was simulating "sealing off" Taiwan in a third day of drills as it appeared to use an aircraft carrier to launch jets towards the island.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taiwan said it had detected jets to its east while China said its Shandong aircraft carrier had taken part.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Beijing began the exercises on Saturday after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met the US House Speaker in California.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So far however the drills are not as big as those that followed Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei last August.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state. China sees it as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under Beijing's control - by force if necessary.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Monday Taiwan said it had spotted another 70 warplanes and 11 ships in its surrounding waters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A map of flight paths released by Taiwan's defence ministry showed four J-15 fighter jets to the island's east - suggesting that the Chinese military is for the first time simulating strikes from the east rather than the west where China's mainland lies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Analysts said it was likely the jets had come from China's Shandong aircraft carrier - one of two such carriers it possesses - which is currently deployed in the western Pacific ocean, about 320km (200 miles) from Taiwan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Chinese military confirmed on Monday in a statement that the Shandong had "participated" in Monday's exercises. It said fighter planes loaded with live ammunition had "carried out multiple waves of simulated strikes on important targets".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Japan's defence ministry said on Monday that the Shandong had also conducted air operations in the preceding days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jet fighters and helicopters took off and landed on the carrier 120 times between Friday and Sunday, the Japanese ministry said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also on Monday the US sent the USS Milius, a guided-missile destroyer, through part of the South China Sea about 1,300km (800 miles) south of Taiwan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China said the ship had "illegally intruded" into its waters, while the US maintained the operation was consistent with international law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Washington had repeatedly called for China to exercise restraint following President Tsai's meeting with Kevin McCarthy, the third most senior US government figure. Beijing meanwhile had warned the US and Taiwan of "resolute counter-measures" if Ms Tsai met Mr McCarthy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China announced the drills after top foreign leaders it was hosting - including French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - left the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Macron later urged Europe not to get dragged into a confrontation between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan in remarks that have attracted some criticism.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On his flight out of China he told reporters Europe risked getting "caught up in crises that are not ours" and this would make it harder to build "strategic autonomy".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China's drills began on Saturday after Ms Tsai had returned from her 10-day trip to the US and Central America.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Former US House Speaker Ms Pelosi's high-profile visit to Taiwan last August was followed by four days of unprecedented military drills, which saw China fire ballistic missiles into the seas around Taiwan. Ms Pelosi was the highest-ranking US official to land in Taiwan since the 1990s.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However some analysts say such military exercises may have diminishing impact over time.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"To maintain the same fear factor, [China will] have to ramp it up bigger and bigger each time as their actions will have a normalising effect after a while," said Ian Chong, a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Taiwan's status has been ambiguous since 1949, when the Chinese Civil War turned in favour of the Chinese Communist Party and the country's old ruling government retreated to the island.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">China's President Xi Jinping has said "reunification" with Taiwan "must be fulfilled". BBC&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>