Beijing condemned it ... an American aircraft carrier conducting exercises in the South China Sea

A US aircraft carrier and its fleet are conducting exercises in the South China Sea aimed at ensuring "freedom of navigation," in the first routine operation in the region under US President Joe Biden.

The US Indo-Pacific Command announced that the USS Theodore Roosevelt maritime group entered the region on Saturday, the same day that Taiwan reported that Chinese aircraft and bombers had crossed its air defense zone.

The Biden administration says the US commitment to Taiwan is solid.

"It is a great thing to go back to the South China Sea to carry out routine operations to encourage freedom of seas and reassure our allies and partners," said Commander of the 9th Maritime Intervention Group, Commodore Doug Verissimo.

Taiwan seceded from China at the end of the civil war in 1949. Its population of 23 million people lives under constant threat of invasion from China, which considers the island part of its territory.

The United States - like other countries - does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but it is the strongest international supporter and the largest supplier of weapons to the island, which anger China.

Chinese anger

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, "The United States often sends aircraft and ships to the South China Sea to show its strength."

He added that these moves do not serve peace and stability in the region.

The South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes every year, has long been a point of contention between Washington and Beijing.

China says that about 95% of the South China Sea is its own property, and that it has historical rights in it, while its neighbors (Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei) are protesting and demanding what it considers rights in those waters guaranteed by the international law of the sea.

In recent years, China has escalated its claim to sovereignty over the majority of the South China Sea, by building artificial islands equipped to receive warplanes, which angered other countries with which it is in conflict.