Taiwan claims China is getting ready to 'launch a war'

China is preparing to “launch a war” against Taiwan, a senior politician from the island nation has warned.

After Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen met with US speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy last week, Beijing conducted military drills around the island as part of what China called a “stern warning” to Taipei.

Following the end of China’s military drills around the island, Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu told CNN: “Look at the military exercises, and also their rhetoric – they seem to be trying to get ready to launch a war against Taiwan.

“The Taiwanese government looks at the Chinese military threat as something that cannot be accepted and we condemn it.”

The warning comes amid reports that China is planning to a impose a no-fly zone north of Taiwan next week, Reuters reports.

Yan Yu-hsien, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence from Taiwan’s defence ministry, said the “no-fly zone” would fall within the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), about 85 nautical miles north of its shores.