China launched “precision missile strikes” around Taiwan on Thursday as it started alarming military drills there as punishment for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “manic, irresponsible and highly irrational” visit.

State media showed footage of multiple Dongfeng series missiles being fired — while videos shared on social media caught beachgoers staring in disbelief as the rockets soared nearby.

“Long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes were carried out on selected targets in the eastern area of the Taiwan Strait,” confirmed the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party’s military wing.

“The expected outcome was achieved,” it added, saying it had also “comprehensively tested the combat capability of the troops under actual combat conditions.”

Chinese navy ships and military aircraft reportedly also crossed the Taiwan Strait median line several times on Thursday morning as tensions in the region escalated to their highest level in decades.

“They sneaked in, and were driven away by us,” a Taiwanese source told Reuters. “They continue to harass us and increase our air defense pressure.”

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that the exercises were joint operations focused on “blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control.”

Pelosi’s 19-hour stop in Taiwan — the highest-level US visit in 25 years — inflamed Beijing, which treats the self-governed island as part of its sovereign territory and viewed the visit as US support for its independence.

“Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces is reasonable, lawful,” China’s Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office said.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, meanwhile, called Pelosi’s visit a “manic, irresponsible and highly irrational” act.

The last time China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan was in 1996. The current drills — involving the navy, air force, rocket force, strategic support force and logistic support force — appear to be the largest held near Taiwan in geographical terms.

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party accused China of “irresponsible, illegitimate behavior” with the drills, which are due to continue through Sunday.

Taiwan’s cabinet spokesman said also that the websites of the defense ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential office were attacked by hackers.

Southeast Asia’s ASEAN regional bloc on Thursday further warned of the risk of “miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers.”

On Thursday, the top eight trending items on China’s leading social media site, Weibo, were related to Taiwan and Pelosi’s visit, with many writing, “Let’s reunite the motherland.”

Some also celebrated Pelosi’s trip as the excuse China needed to finally “take Taiwan by force.”

“I think we should thank Comrade Pelosi,” said a man surnamed Zhao in Beijing’s central business district.

Security around the US Embassy in Beijing also remained unusually tight on Thursday, after the ambassador was earlier summoned to hear official protests about the House speaker’s visit.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said earlier in the week that Pelosi’s trip did not constitute a violation of Chinese sovereignty or America’s longstanding “one China” policy.

The US has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by American law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

With Post wires