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US President Donald Trump stated that he is not concerned aboutMilitary exercises conducted by Beijing near Taiwan, opting to instead emphasize his relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“I share a strong relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t shared any information about [the drills] with me. I have definitely seen it,” Trump said to reporters during a press conference on Monday.

“No, I’m not concerned. They have been conducting naval drills in that region for 20 years,” he stated.

The two-day military exercises began on Monday – almost two weeks following the US announcementone of the biggest military equipment transactions in its historyto Taiwan. The transaction had upset Beijing, which regards the autonomous island as a rebellious province.

On Tuesday, China’s military drills will involve 10 hours of live-fire activities in the maritime and aerial zones around five areas surrounding the island.

The Eastern Theater Command, responsible for the Taiwan Strait, stated that it has deployed destroyers, frigates, and fighter-bombers to assess the military’s “sea-air coordination” and “integrated containment capabilities.”

The Chinese military stated that the war games, which simulate the capture and blockading of the island’s critical regions, serve as a warning to “Taiwan independence separatist forces” and “external interference.”

The office of Taiwan’s president has condemned the exercises, describing them as a threat to global standards.

China has consistently expressed its commitment to “reunification” with Taiwan and has not excluded the possibility of using force to achieve this goal.

It has in recent timesramped up pressureover Taipei with military exercises and routine intrusions into its waters and airspace. Taiwan, in response, has plans to increase defense spending tomodernise its armed forces.

Although Trump has minimized the significance of Beijing’s continuous military exercises, his government has recently unveiled an $11 billion (£8.2 billion) arms deal for Taiwan, featuring state-of-the-art rocket launchers, self-propelled artillery pieces, and a range of missiles.

The United States maintains official relations with Beijing instead of Taiwan, and has carefully navigated diplomatic challenges for many years. However, it continues to be a significant ally of Taiwan and the island’s primary source of military equipment.

China responded to the sale by imposing sanctions on multiple US defense companies. The country’s foreign ministry also stated that any effort to “contain China through the use of Taiwan will certainly fail.”