TENSIONS in Asia have just been ramped up another notch, with China reacting with outrage to planned visits by US warships to Taiwan.

“The day that a US Navy vessel arrives in Kaohsiung, is the day that our People’s Liberation Army unites Taiwan with military force,” Chinese diplomat Li Kexin is quoted as telling an embassy event in the United States.

Taiwan News reports the outburst comes after US Congress approved legislation allowing US and Taiwanese naval ships and military officials to visit each other’s territories.

Taiwan is considered by China to be its sovereign territory. But the island remains under control of the Republic of China after its government fled there in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War which saw the mainland fall to Communist forces.

The subject of the island’s independence been an international diplomatic quagmire ever since.

Minister Li said any visit by the US Navy to Taiwan would violate Beijing’s Anti-Secession Law, which was imposed in 2005 in response to renewed pressure within Taiwan to assert its independence.

#ICYMI PLA Navy conducts air defense missile assessment in East China Sea pic.twitter.com/lD7eIznkYn — CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) December 9, 2017

The law formalised Beijing’s threats of military intervention should the island take such a stand, the Taiwan News reports.

It reports a Ministry of Foreign affairs official as saying it was uncertain how the US would interpret China’s stance, but the threatening way in which the official had commented ‘was not helpful’ to improving relations between Taiwan and China.

AIRCRAFT REINFORCES SOUTH CHINA SEA

Beijing’s moves to seize control of the South China Sea through default, with recent exercises aimed at testing the rapid deployment of combat aircraft to its artificial island fortresses declared illegal under international law.

But its military preparations, including the construction of new warships and landing craft, continue.

Chinese state media recently revealed the country’s new Shaanxi Yun-9 military transport aircraft had completed trial runs over the South China Sea.

China's Y-9 transport aircraft is set for long-distance training over the #SouthChinaSea for first time (via @CGTNOfficial) pic.twitter.com/xRmL8oXKJQ — Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 5, 2017

It was ready to be deployed, expanding China’s abilities in “safeguarding maritime rights” in the strategically crucial waterway.

The Global Times said that the quadruple turbo prop plane “is now able to undertake combat missions” after conducting its first long-range training missions over the South China Sea. Word of the completion of trials was also announced by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force on its official WeChat microblog.

Training included making air drops without assistance from ground controllers and preparing for emergency contingencies in all weather conditions, the Global Times said. That guarantees its ability to deliver supplies to China’s island outposts in the sea, many of which have been equipped with radar stations, missile batteries, hardened aircraft shelters and other military infrastructure.

The China-made, world's largest amphibious aircraft #AG600, about the size of a Boeing 737, has passed the official technical quality assessment for its maiden flight, according to its developer pic.twitter.com/jSB9CdDLxT — People's Daily,China (@PDChina) December 5, 2017

The Yun-9 is a longer version of China’s mainstay Yun-8 military transport aircraft, boasting advanced features, the ability to take off and land in a variety of environments, including small islands such as those created by China from coral reefs, and relatively inexpensive production costs. It can transport up to 20 tons of cargo, vehicles and about 100 troops, as well as serve in a medevac function with a maximum range of 4000 kilometres. The Global Times said that among its training missions, it flew from a military airport in the southwestern province of Sichuan, landed on an island in the South China Sea and returned to base the same day.