China’s People’s Liberation Army has begun military exercises including live firing on the waters and in

the airspace surrounding the island of Taiwan, Chinese state television reported on Thursday. The drills,
spread out across six locations, are due to end at 12:00 p.m. (0400 GMT) on Sunday. The exercises
followed U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, a trip condemned by
Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as its own. Also Read | China targets Taiwan with
military, economic measures after Pelosi visit Significantly, in the north, east and south, the exercise
areas bisect Taiwan’s claimed 12 nautical miles of territorial waters - something Taiwanese officials say
challenges the international order and amount to a blockade of its sea and air space. The locations
encircle the island in an unprecedented formation, Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the National Defence
University, told Chinese state television, describing how an actual military operation against Taiwan
could play out. Also Read | U.S.-China ties on a precipice after Pelosi visit to Taiwan “In fact, this has
created very good conditions for us when, in the future, we reshape our strategic landscape conducive
to our unification,” Mr. Meng said. Chinese forces in two areas off the northern coast of Taiwan could
potentially seal off Keelung, a major port, while strikes could be launched from an area east of Taiwan
targeting the military bases in Hualien and Taidong, Mr. Meng said. The “doors” to Kaoshiung could also
be closed by Chinese military off the southwestern coast, Mr. Meng said. Chinese vessels, aircraft make
multiple incursions over median line - Taiwanese source China’s military made multiple brief incursions
of the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait starting on Wednesday night and continuing through
Thursday morning, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters. During that time, about 10
Chinese navy ships briefly crossed the median line before they were “driven away” by Taiwanese navy
boats, said the person, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. By midday on
Thursday, military vessels from both sides remained in the area and in close proximity. “They sneaked
in, and were driven away by us,” the Taiwanese source told Reuters. Also Read | China summons U.S.
envoy Nicholas Burns, warns America shall ‘pay price’ as Pelosi visits Taiwan Meanwhile, multiple
Chinese air force planes briefly crossed the median line several times on Thursday morning, forcing
Taiwan to scramble jets and deploy missile systems to track their movement, the person said. “They
flew in and then flew out, again and again. They continue to harass us and increase our air defence
pressure.” China is conducting targeted military drills in zones surrounding Taiwan which it said were
launched following the visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei earlier this week. A day after
the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sealed ‘Young Indian’, a not-for-profit company that owns Associated
Journal Limited-controlled National Herald newspaper, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said the
Narendra Modi Government is trying to intimidate but he isn’t scared. Speaking to reporters outside
the Parliament on August 4, Mr. Gandhi dared the government to do whatever it can but he won’t back
down. “This is an attempt at intimidation. They think that they will silence us by putting a little bit of
pressure. We will continue to fight against the anti-democratic acts of [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi
and [Home Minister] Amit Shah. No matter what they do,” Mr. Gandhi told reporters. “We will not be
intimated and we are not scared of Narendra Modi. Let them do what they want to do. It won’t make
any difference. My work is to protect the nation, its democratic values and maintain its harmony. I will
continue to do so. They can do what they want,” he added. ALSO READ ED conducts searches in
National Herald case The issue of ED’s action was raised in both the Houses of Parliament in the morning
after a strategy meet of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting presided by Leader of the
Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.