China holds military drill near Taiwan

Show of might: A file photo of PLA soldiers taking part in a battle drill in a coastal area of Guangdong province. The PLA has flown growing numbers of fighter planes and bombers near Taiwan and has in the past fired missiles into shipping lanes to the island. — Xinhua

The government said it was conducting military exercises 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” yesterday near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province from 8am to 9pm, the official Xinhua News Agency said.