China to hold military drills around Taiwan after US speaker meeting

‘Combat readiness’ exercises come after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen met US house speaker Kevin McCarthy this week, angering Beijing

• China-Taiwan tensions explained in 30 seconds

China will hold three days of military exercises around Taiwan starting from Saturday, the People’s Liberation Army announced, the day after Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen returned from a trip to the United States.

China would hold “combat readiness patrols” and exercises in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of Taiwan “as planned”, the army’s eastern theatre command said in a brief statement.