Beijing kicked off large-scale military exercises around Taiwan and its islands on Monday in what it called a “warning” against Taiwan’s independence. The drills, which the Chinese military’s Eastern Theatre Command said involved joint operations of the army, navy, air force and missile units, took place around Taiwan and in the Taiwan Strait — a body of water separating the island from China. The spokesperson for the Eastern Theatre Command, Navy Senior Captain Li Xi, posted on social media that the drills were a “major warning to those who back Taiwan independence and a signifier of our dete…