Taiwan’s Defense Ministry reported nine Chinese ships and over two dozen aircraft remain near the island despite Beijing’s announcement that the 3-day exercise ended. The exercise, which began on Saturday as Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), “simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan island and the surrounding sea areas,” according to Chinese state television. Tsai called China’s actions “not the responsible attitude of a major country in the region.” Fox News reports the U.S. Navy continues conducting “freedom of navigation operations” in the South China Sea with guided-missile destroyer USS Milius. China claims the ship “illegally trespassed into the waters…without the approval of the Chinese government.”
