China to stage major drills around Taiwan after Pelosi visit

GBNEWS24DESK//

China is due on Thursday to kick off its largest-ever military exercises encircling Taiwan, in a show of force straddling vital international shipping lanes following a visit to the self-ruled island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi left Taiwan Wednesday after a less than 24-hour visit that defied a series of increasingly stark threats from Beijing, which views the island as its territory.

The House speaker, second in line to the presidency, was the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.

She declared her presence made it “unequivocally clear” that the United States would “not abandon” a democratic ally like Taiwan.

Her trip sparked a furious reaction from Beijing, which vowed “punishment” for those that had offended it and announced military drills in the seas around Taiwan — some of the world’s busiest waterways.

The exercises, set to begin at 12:00 pm (0400 GMT), will involve “training activities including live-fire drills”, according to an announcement in state media.

They will take place in multiple zones encircling Taiwan — at some points within just 20 kilometres (12 miles) of the island’s shore — and will conclude at midday on Sunday.

Nationalist state-run tabloid the Global Times reported, citing military analysts, that the exercises were “unprecedented” and that missiles would fly over Taiwan for the first time.