As the military began a second day of live-fire training surrounding the island, Beijing's top diplomat declared on Tuesday that China would "forcefully counter" massive US arms shipments to Taiwan.
In an address in Beijing, foreign minister Wang Yi stated, "We must of course, resolutely oppose and forcefully counter them in response to the continuous provocations by pro-independence forces in Taiwan and the large-scale US arms sales to Taiwan."
Wang's remarks were made a little more than an hour after the Chinese military said that "long-range live fire drills in the waters to the north of the Taiwan Island" had taken place.
China has not ruled out using military force to take control of the democratic island nation of Taiwan, which it claims as part of its own territory.
Any effort to prevent China from uniting with Taiwan "will inevitably end in failure," Wang continued, speaking at a yearly symposium on international affairs in Beijing.
