China flew a record number of fighter jets and other warplanes around Taiwan during its large-scale military drills on Monday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.

The Chinese military said the exercises, which will simulate strikes on land and at sea, would serve as “a stern warning” to “Taiwan independence forces.”

The joint exercises come after Beijing criticized a speech in which Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said China had no right to represent the self-ruling island.

China’s show of force around Taiwan in a day of massive military exercises has fuelled alarm in Taipei, which wants other democracies to push back harder against Beijing. The fact that the People’s Liberation Army had 153 aircraft and 36 naval and coastguard ships around Taiwan on Monday,

The world’s largest maritime law enforcement agency played an unprecedented role in Chinese military drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of the island.

Xinhua, the official news service, noted that instead of referring to China as the “the mainland”, which would suggest that China and Taiwan are one country, he referred to it as “China”, as if they were separate.