The Global Times, one of Beijing’s largest media outlets, published multiple scathing articles that ridiculed Senators Tammy Duckworth, Chris Coons and Dan Sullivan for visiting Taiwan as part of a “risky provocation.” It mocked the U.S. for characterizing the visit as an “epidemic prevention request” aimed at providing COVID-19 vaccines to the pandemic-struck island country.

Beijing controversially still views Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China, and Chinese Communist Party mouthpieces said the U.S. senators were flexing America’s military might through “salami-slicing tactics.”

The Global Times said it’s likely that China will respond with military action should the U.S. continue to “escalate the cross-Straits tensions.” The outlet specifically complained that the U.S. lawmakers should not have landed at Songshan Airport Sunday morning in a C-17 military aircraft.

The outlet also quoted several Chinese academics who said the Biden administration is continuing to “test China’s red line by gradually hollowing out its one-China policy.” They said the Americans and independence-seeking Taiwanese officials are using the guise of “diplomatic relations” in order to encourage “secessionist” thought.

Taiwanese officials and members of the majority Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) applauded Sunday’s bipartisan visit by the three U.S. senators. But the Global Times blasted their use of a military aircraft and said it’s indicative of “military cooperation and exchanges between the U.S. and the island.”

The state-run outlet also accused the Americans of surreptitiously dropping off military supplies alongside the COVID-19 vaccines.

“We should not allow the US-Taiwan salami-slicing tactics to gain breakthrough because otherwise they would get bolder and intensify their provocation in the future,” the editorial board wrote in a scathing piece.

“China should draw a clearer red line on the Taiwan question. Foreign politicians and officials who have crossed the line should not be allowed to enter China, and Chinese companies are not allowed to have any dealings with them,” experts told the Global Times.

Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu tweeted Sunday about the “bilateral ties” visit by the three U.S. senators, writing: “I’m honored to receive Sens. Duckworth, Sullivan & Coons. They came to announce a great #Vaccine donation bolstering our #COVID19 response & to show unwavering support for #Taiwan in the face of #China’s threats. We stand with fellow democracies in fighting authoritarianism.”

Newsweek reached out to the offices of all three U.S. senators for any additional remarks about the Taiwan visit and COVID-19 vaccine exchange.

In a separate piece that blasted U.S. and Biden administration foreign policy, the Global Times accused Washington of turning the G7 into an “anti-China, anti-Russia chorus.”