China announces it will be conducting military drills, including live-fire exercises, all around Taiwan as Pelosi arrives for historic visit

• China's military will host military exercises near Taiwan this week, Chinese state media reported.
• The reports said this will include live-fire drills in the water and airspace surrounding the island.

Shortly after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan for a historic visit, China announced that the People's Liberation Army will hold military exercises all around the island this week.

From August 4 to 7, the Chinese military will hold hold live-fire drills in six maritime areas surrounding the self-ruled island and their respective airspace, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency and state-affiliated Global Times, among other state outlets.

—Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 2, 2022

News of the drills came not long after Pelosi arrived in Taipei at around 10:45 p.m. local time on Tuesday. She is the highest-ranking US lawmaker to visit the self-ruled democratic island in 25 years.

Her visit came amid a flurry of warnings from Beijing that there could be a possible military response if Pelosi visited Taiwan, which China has long claimed as its own.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Monday that China could take various steps in response to Pelosi's visit, including firing missiles and holding military exercises.

Following the announcement that China will conduct drills around Taiwan, Chinese state media further reported that the PLA's Eastern Theater Command would begin exercises Tuesday evening, executing drills involving maritime and air combat exercises, as well as the firing of long-range artillery and conventional missiles.

—Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 2, 2022

In his remarks Monday, Kirby stressed that Beijing has no grounds to use Pelosi's visit as "pretext" for military activity around Taiwan, referencing at the time the live-fire military exercises China conducted near the island this past weekend.

In a statement shared by Xinhua Tuesday, China's foreign ministry said Pelosi's visit is a "serious violation" of the one-China policy and will have a "serious impact" on US-China relations.

Pelosi wrote on Twitter after landing that "our delegation's visit to Taiwan honors America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant Democracy."

And in an op-ed published in The Washington Post around the same time, she wrote: "In the face of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) accelerating aggression, our congressional delegation's visit should be seen as an unequivocal statement that America stands with Taiwan, our democratic partner, as it defends itself and its freedom."