China’s military will conduct military exercises off its coast near Taiwan, the government said, days after the island’s president returned home from a trip that included stops in New York and Los Angeles.
(Bloomberg) — China’s military will conduct military exercises off its coast near Taiwan, the government said, days after the island’s president returned home from a trip that included stops in New York and Los Angeles.
The live-fire exercises will take place in the Taiwan Strait off Pingtan county from 7am to 8pm on April 10, the Fujian provincial maritime administration said in a statement. Pingtan is about 80 miles (130 kilometers) from Taiwan.
The statement didn’t mention President Tsai Ing-wen’s visits to New York and Los Angeles, which included meetings with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other US officials and lawmakers. Those stops bookended a trip to Belize and Guatemala, two countries that formally recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty.
China voiced opposition over the trip and the exercises fit a pattern of announcing such drills in a sign of condemnation. Last year, China announced similar military exercises in the same area as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared to visit Taiwan.
Earlier Friday, China had imposed largely symbolic sanctions on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, other organizations and a key envoy. The library was where Tsai met McCarthy, and China’s Foreign Ministry said it had served as a platform for her “separatist activities.”
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