China-Taiwan news LIVE: UK warned not to ‘dance to tune’ of US after Nancy Pelosi visit as Taiwan accuses Beijing of psychological warfare
- Live-fire drills by People’s Liberation Army began Tuesday and continue today
- More exercises Thursday to Sunday take place in six locations around Taiwan
- Taipei says drills amount to a blockade as experts warn Beijing is rehearsing war
- Read more of MailOnline’s coverage of escalating tensions in Taiwan here
This is MailOnline’s live blog for US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan amid escalating tensions with China.
Host commentator
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi – who on Tuesday became the most-senior politician to visit Taiwan since 1997, when China was last engaged in sabre-rattling – refused to back down, defiantly telling Beijing that the US ‘will not abandon its commitment’ as she met with President President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei.
‘Today the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy’ she said in a short speech during a meeting with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen.
‘America’s determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad.’
China will surround Taiwan and effectively blockade the island with massive military drills in the most-serious threat to its independence in decades as Beijing escalates tensions over Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
Six days of military exercises kicked off Tuesday with live-fire drills in and around the Taiwan strait that will last through today, as authoritarian China attempts to intimidate its democratic neighbour and pressure the US into dropping its support for the self-governing island.
Four more days of drills will then commence on Thursday and last until Sunday, taking place in six locations around the country – three of which cross into its territorial waters in what Taipei has today called a serious breach of international norms.
Welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of escalating tensions in Taiwan. We’ll be providing regular updates on Nancy Pelosi’s visit, the response of China and reaction from around the globe throughout the day.
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