China said it held military exercises around Taiwan on Friday, as a delegation of six US congressmen was visiting the island.
China state TV quoted a military spokesman as saying that the military sent frigates, bombers and combat aircraft to the East China Sea and the area around Taiwan today.
The spokesman noted that the operation was "in response to the repeated sending of false signals by the United States regarding Taiwan in recent times."
During a meeting Friday with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said Taiwan is a "country of global importance" and its security has implications for the world at large.
Menendez was part of a delegation of 6 members of the US Congress from the Republican and Democratic parties visiting Taiwan to express support for it in the face of Chinese pressure.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine demonstrated that democracies must strengthen their alliances, and that we can collectively defend ourselves from threats posed by authoritarian states seeking to destabilize regional peace," the Taiwan president told members of the US delegation.
China views Taiwan as a breakaway province, and rejects this type of official contacts between Taiwan and countries that have diplomatic relations with Beijing.