China sanctions Pelosi, sends 100 warplanes to Taiwan drills

5/8/2022 18:06

        China said Friday that more than 100 warplanes and 10 warships have taken part in live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan over the past two days, while announcing sanctions on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her visit to the self-governing island earlier this week.
        
        The official Xinhua News Agency said Friday that fighters, bombers, destroyers and frigates were all used in what it called "joint blockage operations" taking place in six zones off the coast of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
        
        The military's Eastern Theater Command also fired new versions of missiles it said hit unidentified targets in the Taiwan Strait "with precision."
        
        Those included projectiles fired over Taiwan into the Pacific, military officers told state media, in a major ratcheting up of China's threats to annex the island by force.
        
        The drills, which Xinhua described as being held on an "unprecedented scale," are China's response to a visit this week by Pelosi to Taiwan. She is the highest ranking U.S. politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
        
        China announced unspecified sanctions on Pelosi and her family. Such sanctions are generally mostly symbolic in nature.