China announces new Taiwan drills as US delegation visits

TAIPEI: China announced more military drills around Taiwan as the island's president met with members of a new U.S. congressional delegation Monday, in a further sign of support among American lawmakers for the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own.

The visit came less than two weeks after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, which prompted days of threatening military exercises by China, including the firing of missiles over the island and into the Taiwan Strait.

China regards formal contacts between U.S. politicians and the island's government as support for its independence from Beijing. Additional joint drills in the seas and skies surrounding Taiwan were announced by the People's Liberation Army on Monday, the Defense Ministry and its Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.