Taipei, April 8 (CNA) The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched three days of military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday, one day after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) returned from a 10-day overseas trip that included a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

Earlier in the day, the PLA's Eastern Theater Command announced in a brief statement on the social media platform Weibo that the "combat readiness patrol" and "united sword" drills would be held in the Taiwan Strait and in waters and airspace to the north, south and east of Taiwan "as planned."

Details about the exercises or their exact locations, however, were not disclosed by the eastern command.

In a statement, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) said the nation's armed forces were monitoring the situation, and that they will remain on constant high alert while making every effort to defend the country's sovereignty and national security.

Meanwhile, a total of 42 Chinese military aircraft and eight naval ships were detected in areas around Taiwan Saturday, including 29 warplanes that crossed Taiwan Strait median line or flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the MND said Saturday.

Among the Chinese military planes were Chengdu J-10 combat aircraft, and Shenyang J-11 and Shenyang J-16 jet fighters that crossed northern, central, and southern parts of the median line, the MND said, adding that the maneuvers were detected as of 11 a.m. Saturday

The ministry said it scrambled combat air and naval patrols and deployed defense missile systems to track the Chinese military aircraft.

In addition to the PLA drills, China's Fujian Maritime Safety Administration has also announced that it will hold live-fire exercises in waters near the Luoyuan Bay area in Fujian Province on Saturday, as well as April 11, 13, 15, 17 and 20 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.