Don't read too much into military drills, Beijing says, after alarm in Taiwan over post-election exercises

China’s Defence Ministry said on Friday people shouldn’t read too much into a state media broadcast of live-fire military and landing drills just days after a landslide election win by an independence-leaning opposition party in Taiwan.

The self-ruled island expressed serious concern on Thursday over the mainland’s broadcast. Its defence ministry confirmed mainland China recently carried out “winter exercises”, but said that the pictures in the video were archive clips spliced together of drills conducted in 2015.

READ MORE: China’s PLA forces carry out landing drills near Taiwan outpost days after elections

China considers Taiwan a wayward province, to be brought under its control by force if necessary. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after the Chinese civil war.

“The relevant media report is a summary of training manoeuvres organised last year by troops. There is no need to over-interpret them,” China’s Defence Ministry said in a two sentence statement.

Chinese state television said late on Wednesday the 31st Group Army, based in China’s southeastern city of Xiamen, opposite Taiwan, had carried out the drills in “recent days”, but it did not give an exact location.

The channel broadcast images of amphibious armoured vehicles ploughing through the sea towards a landing site, helicopters firing missiles at shore locations and soldiers parachuting down from helicopters.