A People's Liberation Army (PLA) spokesman said on Thursday that the Chinese mainland's troops have recently conducted live combat drills in the Taiwan Strait as a "necessary action" to safeguard national sovereignty and stability in the region.

The PLA Eastern Theater Command conducted live combat exercises involving multiple units in the Taiwan Strait and around the water of the north and south ends of the strait as part of efforts to test its joint combat capabilities between different forces, Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui, a spokesperson for the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said in a statement. 

Zhang said a certain country has taken a series of actions and sent severely wrong signal to the "separatist forces" in the Taiwan region. Such moves have seriously harmed the peace and stability of the region, he added. 

Taiwan is part of China, he stressed, vowing to defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Zhang said the drills and patrolling are necessary actions to defend national sovereignty and regional stability, and the PLA Eastern Theater Command stays vigilant and takes all necessary actions to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

(Cover: China's aircraft carrier Liaoning (C) takes part in a military drill of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the western Pacific Ocean, April 18, 2018. /Reuters)