China has vowed to surround the island of Taiwan as part of a “targeted military operations” in response to a controversial visit to the country by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
State-affiliated media in China has quoted the country’s Ministry of National Defence as saying the People’s Liberation Army will be countering Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in a bid to “defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
These operations will include live fire drills and “war games” around the coast of the island, which China claims is a breakaway province.
On Tuesday, China announced a series of life-fire exercises surrounding Taiwan between Thursday and Sunday.
Commercial ships and flights have been warned to avoid these areas during these times.
China has vowed to “fight to the death” over Taiwan, amid the deployment of warships, tanks and fighter planes to its southeast coast just 100 miles from the island.
It comes as Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan, defying repeated threats from Beijing over the controversial visit – the first by a senior US politician in 25 years.
As the veteran politician’s plane entered Taiwanese airspace, local publication SETN reported that two Chinese jets had been scrambled to follow it, entering Taiwan’s airspace southwest of the country, minutes before her arrival.
Pelosi is set to meet Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday (today’s) morning.
Her visit hasn’t been greeted with universal acclaim in Taiwan, however, with a small counter-protest there to greet her at the airport.
One protester held up a banner reading “American get out”.
