BEIJING, May 24 -- "The military drills around Taiwan aim to crack down on the arrogance of 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces and deter the interference and intervention of external forces, which are completely reasonable, lawful, legitimate and necessary," said a Chinese defense spokesperson on Friday.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the above remarks in responding to a media query on the US military officials' claims that the recent joint military drills around Taiwan conducted by the PLA Eastern Theater Command raised tensions across the Taiwan Strait and were worrying.

Snr. Col. Wu stated that the Chinese PLA Eastern Theater Command organized its troops of army, navy, air force and rocket force to conduct joint military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan in recent days to test the troops' capabilities of joint operations.

Snr. Col. Wu pointed out that, as soon as he took office, the leader of the Taiwan region seriously challenged the one-China principle by touting the "two states theory" and attempting to seek "Taiwan independence" by force and by relying on external forces, pushing the Taiwan compatriots towards the danger of war. This is totally an act of playing with fire, and those who play with fire will end up getting burned.

"Taiwan is China's Taiwan, and how to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for over 1.4 billion Chinese people," said Snr. Col. Wu, stressing that the Chinese PLA will defend China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity with concrete actions.

"With each provocation of the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces, our countermeasures will advance one step further until the complete reunification of the motherland is realized," said the spokesperson.