The United States doubled down on its decades-old support for Taiwan as China flexed its muscles with a second day of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan, including live-fire drills.

The Chinese military on Tuesday said it had begun conducting exercises that would approach the island of Taiwan “from multiple directions,” according to a statement posted on the Eastern Theater Command’s official social media account.

Ms Zhao, who calls herself “Xiaowei” online, often posts videos featuring a large Chinese flag, saying things such as: “Come on, my fellow Taiwanese, let’s unite and go home together!!!” She is one of three social-media influencers—all of them women from the Chinese mainland who had married Taiwanese men—who were told in March they were no longer welcome to live on the island.

Taiwan's defence ministry on Thursday detailed a surge in Chinese military activity as Beijing wrapped up a second day of war games overnight Wednesday, saying it had detected 59 warplanes and 23 navy ships operating around the island.

China's military concluded two-day war games around Taiwan in which it held long-range, live-fire drills in the East China Sea, marking an escalation of exercises around the island.