The Biden administration is warning China to “act with restraint” after the CCP-controlled Chinese military ran provocative military drills near Taiwan on Friday.

Dozens of Chinese navy vessels and warplanes were spotted off the coast of Taiwan on Friday, according to Taiwanese military officials. 49 Chinese warplanes and 19 navy vessels were counted in total.

Taiwanese officials reported that 35 of the Chinese planes flew across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which is considered the de-facto boundary between the two countries.

In a statement published on Saturday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. is “deeply concerned” over the military drills.

CHINA’S FOREIGN MINISTRY BLASTS TAIWAN INAUGURATION, PHILIPPINES STANDOFF IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

“We are monitoring PRC activities closely and coordinating with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns,” the statement read. “We strongly urge Beijing to act with restraint.”

“Using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations risks escalation and erodes longstanding norms that for decades have maintained peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is critical for regional and global security and prosperity and a matter of international concern,” Miller added.

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In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, newly commissioned navy ships are seen in the northern Taiwan port of Suao on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.  (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin blasted the U.S.’s previous calls for restraint in response to past military drills.

“[The U.S.] is in no position to make such irresponsible remarks,” Wang was quoted as saying.

The drills come as tensions continue to intensify in the region. Former Taiwanese navy captain Lu Li Shih told Sky News that China is “preparing for war.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin attends a regular press conference on May 24, 2022 in Beijing, China. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

“China is preparing for war based on the number of military ships and the hiring of new recruits. It’s all for self-defense, and Taiwan,” the former captian said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Scores of people were killed or wounded when an aerial bomb hit a large store in the city of Kharkiv on Saturday afternoon, according to local officials.

The airstrike caused a huge fire to break out, with huge plumes of smoke seen filling the sky in social media footage. 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 200 people could have been inside the store. 

A second bomb hit the city’s central park, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

Zelenskyy called the airstrike “a manifestation of Russian madness”, and appealed to Western countries to provide Ukraine with air defence systems.

“When we tell world leaders that Ukraine requires adequate air defence protection … we are literally talking about how not to allow such terrorist strikes,” he said in a post on X.

“Only madmen like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin are capable of killing and terrorising people in this way,” Zelenskyy added.

Kharkiv region is situated about 20 kilometres from the Russian border. 

Moscow’s troops have in recent weeks captured villages in the area as part of a broad push, and analysts say they may be trying to get within artillery range of Kharkiv city. 

Ukrainian authorities have evacuated more than 11,000 people from the region since the start of the offensive on 10 May.

Russia’s Kharkiv push appears to be a coordinated new offensive that includes testing Ukrainian defences in the Donetsk region further south, where Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces had taken over the village of Arkhanhelske. 

They have also launched incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has said the Kremlin’s army is attempting to create a “buffer zone” in the Kharkiv region to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks.