The drills follow the Trump administration’s mid-December approval of one of the largest packages of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The approvals, valued at over $11 billion, led Beijing to impose sanctions on Friday targeting 20 U.S. defense companies and 10 executives.

China began holding live-fire military drills around Taiwan on Monday, creating a simulation of a blockade of the island's major ports as a warning to "separatist forces."