ISLAMABAD
\nChina has begun three days of military exercises around Taiwan amid anger in Beijing over Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen\u2019s meeting in California with the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.
\nChina, which claims Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its aims, will hold \u201ccombat readiness patrols\u201d until April 10, the People\u2019s Liberation Army\u2019s (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command said in a brief statement on Saturday.
\nThe drills, dubbed United Sharp Sword, involve exercises in the Taiwan Strait to the north and south of the island as well as in the sea and airspace to its east.
\n\u201cThis is a serious warning to the Taiwan independence separatist forces and external forces\u2019 collusion and provocation, and it is a necessary action to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,\u201d the PLA said.
\nTsai met McCarthy on the return leg of a tour of the self-ruled island\u2019s two remaining formal allies in Central America and arrived home on Friday.
\nBeijing had threatened retaliation even before the meeting took place.
\n The Shandong aircraft carrier was spotted sailing through Taiwan\u2019s southeastern waters on its way to the western Pacific hours before the meeting was scheduled on Wednesday.
\nTaiwan\u2019s Defence Ministry said it was monitoring the situation and would respond appropriately to defend the island\u2019s security.
\nChina was using Tsai\u2019s US visit \u201cas an excuse to carry out military exercises, which has seriously damaged regional peace, stability and security\u201d, the ministry said in a statement.
\n\u201cThe military will respond with a calm, rational and serious attitude, and will stand guard and monitor in accordance with the principles of \u2018not escalating nor disputes\u2019 to defend national sovereignty and national security.\u201d
\nOn Friday, Beijing announced tightened sanctions against Hsiao Bi-Khim, Taiwan\u2019s de facto ambassador to the US, and the Ronald Reagan Library where Tsai and McCarthy met, but held back from the more overt response that followed the visit to the island last August of McCarthy\u2019s predecessor Nancy Pelosi.
\nOn that occasion China staged days of war games around Taiwan, including firing missiles across the island.
\nAnalysts said the initial more muted reaction to the Tsai-McCarthy meeting could have been because it took place in the US, or because it coincided with a visit to Beijing by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
\nThe PLA drills began hours after Macron and von der Leyen, whose focus was the Ukraine crisis, had left.
\nA Chinese warship in seas facing the Taiwan Strait fired multiple rounds of artillery in the Luoyan Bay area on the coast of Fujian province, about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the Matsu islands that are near the mainland but controlled by Taiwan.
\nSmoke and muzzle flares were visible from the stern of the vessel, an amphibious landing ship, as sailors fired shells towards targets on land and water, the Reuters news agency reported. Fishing boats and huge cargo vessels cruised nearby, avoiding the drill area.
\nTaiwan\u2019s defence ministry said that 42 Chinese planes and eight ships crossed the strait\u2019s median line, which normally serves as an unofficial buffer between the two sides, on Saturday morning.
\nA delegation of US legislators, led by Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is currently visiting Taiwan and met Tsai for lunch on Saturday.
\nMcCaul said the delegation was in Taipei to show its support for the democratic island while Tsai said the people of Taiwan loved democracy and sought peace.
\nThe US does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is the island\u2019s biggest supporter internationally. It is also bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD China has begun three days of military exercises around Taiwan amid anger in Beijing over Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen\u2019s meeting in California with the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy. China, which claims Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its aims, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-324696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n