he Chinese military is mounting a show of force ahead of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Asian tour, which could include a visit to Taiwan.
As China hardened its posture, despite growing concern that a miscalculation could increase the risk of conflict, it said it was holding live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait and released footage of a similar exercise in the South China Sea.
The maritime administration in Fujian province said the exercise off the waters of Pingtan would be carried out between 8am and 9pm, adding that all vessels were banned from entering the area.
Pingtan is about 125km (75 miles) from Taiwan's coast and about 185km from Taipei, its capital.
The exercise was announced on Thursday afternoon - hours before a phone conversation between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden aimed at reducing tensions - but not widely reported by Chinese media until Friday night.
During the call, their fifth since Biden took the office, Xi told Biden that the US should avoid "playing with fire" over Taiwan.
On Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV released a rare video footage of live-fire training by the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Yanan in the South China Sea.
Li Jinwei, its captain, told CCTV that the training "focused on the practical application of new equipment to effectively enhance collaborative command and ... accelerate the formation of a new combat capacity".
Pelosi and her team have not confirmed that she will visit Taiwan, but if she goes ahead, this will be the first visit by a sitting US House speaker since Republican Newt Ginrich met president Lee Teng-hui 25 years ago.
Pelosi's Asia tour also coincides with Monday's anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army - a day when usually uses to underscore the military's role in safeguarding national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
On Friday, the PLA's 80th Group Army, posted a short message "Preparing for war!" on its Weibo account, which had gained over 1.58milion likes, by Saturday night.
The unit is based in Shandong and falls under Northern Theatre Command, which is not responsible for operations relating to Taiwan.
It later posted in the replies to its post: "As the holiday belonging to the military is approaching, we must remember our fundamental duty to prepare for war and fight, and charge forward on the march to strengthen the army!"
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/china-puts-show-naval-force-093000672.html
As China hardened its posture, despite growing concern that a miscalculation could increase the risk of conflict, it said it was holding live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait and released footage of a similar exercise in the South China Sea.
The maritime administration in Fujian province said the exercise off the waters of Pingtan would be carried out between 8am and 9pm, adding that all vessels were banned from entering the area.
Pingtan is about 125km (75 miles) from Taiwan's coast and about 185km from Taipei, its capital.
The exercise was announced on Thursday afternoon - hours before a phone conversation between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden aimed at reducing tensions - but not widely reported by Chinese media until Friday night.
During the call, their fifth since Biden took the office, Xi told Biden that the US should avoid "playing with fire" over Taiwan.
On Saturday, state broadcaster CCTV released a rare video footage of live-fire training by the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer Yanan in the South China Sea.
Li Jinwei, its captain, told CCTV that the training "focused on the practical application of new equipment to effectively enhance collaborative command and ... accelerate the formation of a new combat capacity".
Pelosi and her team have not confirmed that she will visit Taiwan, but if she goes ahead, this will be the first visit by a sitting US House speaker since Republican Newt Ginrich met president Lee Teng-hui 25 years ago.
Pelosi's Asia tour also coincides with Monday's anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army - a day when usually uses to underscore the military's role in safeguarding national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity.
On Friday, the PLA's 80th Group Army, posted a short message "Preparing for war!" on its Weibo account, which had gained over 1.58milion likes, by Saturday night.
The unit is based in Shandong and falls under Northern Theatre Command, which is not responsible for operations relating to Taiwan.
It later posted in the replies to its post: "As the holiday belonging to the military is approaching, we must remember our fundamental duty to prepare for war and fight, and charge forward on the march to strengthen the army!"
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/china-puts-show-naval-force-093000672.html
