China begins three-day military exercises around the island of Taiwan. This was announced by the People’s Liberation Army on Saturday. The military exercises will be held “on schedule” north, south and east of the island of Taiwan, the army said in a statement. No further details have been given so far. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen had just returned from a trip to the United States a few days earlier.
On Wednesday (local time), the President met the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, for talks. The encounter in California was the first of its kind on US soil.
In protest at the meeting, China imposed sanctions on US organizers of events involving Tsai. Among other things, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, where the meeting took place on Wednesday, was punished.
The communist leadership in Beijing regards the democratically governed island of Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and is threatening to conquer it. A visit to Taiwan by McCarthy’s predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, in August had led to a serious crisis.