The Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command announced on Saturday morning that it had started encircling the island of Taiwan from four directions with combat alert patrols and joint exercises that are scheduled to last for three days to Monday.

The announcement of the military exercises came soon after Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen returned from her "transit" trip to the United States, during which she met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.

As Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said, the action is a "stern warning" to Taiwan secessionist forces and the external forces that are colluding with them that the PLA is ready and resolved to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The exercises involve all the branches of the military and are highly combat-oriented, with experts saying a key part of the drill is to conduct electronic suppression of the radar and anti-missile bases on the island. The fact that the PLA is holding patrols and exercises in the waters and air in the Taiwan Straits and to the north, east and south of the island, or in other words surrounding it totally, demonstrates the capability of the PLA to neutralize the island's defenses and blockade and isolate it if necessary.

For the past several years, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan and anti-China elements in Washington have more than once taken provocative moves against the Chinese mainland. In August 2022, then US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi made a trip to Taiwan despite the opposition from Beijing and critical voices in the US. Now her successor has taken another by meeting Tsai under the name of a "stopover" in the US.

Pelosi's meeting with Tsai was answered with a major military exercise. Now McCarthy's meeting with her has been answered with new drills. The two military exercises send the clear message that China will not tolerate any challenge on the Taiwan question.

Beijing has repeatedly stressed that the Taiwan question is its domestic affair and national reunification is its core interest. Any such provocations will always be met with a firm response.

The Taiwan question emerged when China was not strong enough to finish its final national reunification. With China's comprehensive strength increasing, reunification is inevitable and the only question is whether it will be realized peacefully or by force.

That choice lies in the hands of such secessionist forces as the DPP and those in Washington colluding with it.