China said it was conducting military exercises on Saturday off its coast opposite Taiwan after warning Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the US House of Representatives to scrap possible plans to visit the island democracy, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.
The ruling Communist Party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, was conducting “live-fire exercises” near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province from 8am to 9pm (local time), the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Such exercises usually involve artillery. The one-sentence announcement gave no indication whether the exercise also might include missiles, fighter planes or other weapons. Pelosi, who would be the highest-ranking American elected official to visit Taiwan since 1997, has yet to confirm whether she will go.