Nancy Pelosi

China's eastern military command said that at about 1 p.m. (local Beijing time) units of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) "implemented long-range fire live firing training in the Taiwan Strait and conducted precise strikes on specific areas in the eastern part of the Taiwan Strait," which separates mainland China from the island, reports dpa news agency.

Pelosi is the first US House speaker to visit South Korea since former Speaker Dennis Hastert in 2002, reports Yonhap News Agency. Pelosi arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night from Taiwan where she reaffirmed unwavering US commitment to supporting the island's democracy.

Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat who is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, met Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-Wen along with Pelosi and other members of the Congressional delegation on Wednesday in Taipei.

In a statement, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar expressed firm support to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, The News reported. "Pakistan is deeply concerned over the evolving situation in the Taiwan Strait, which has serious implications for regional peace and stability," he said.

Pelosi also met former Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee and social activist Lee Ming-chee, both of whom had been imprisoned in China, at the Jingmei Human Rights and Culture Park south of Taipei. Lee had just returned to Taiwan from China after serving a five-year sentence for "subverting state power."

This shows Washington's desire to demonstrate US lawlessness to everyone, along the lines of "I do what I want," he said on Wednesday during a visit to Myanmar, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Such a nuisance had been created out of thin air, knowing full well what it would mean for China, dpa news agency reported quoting Lavrov as saying.

"Today, our delegation... came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear: we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, and we're proud of our enduring friendship," Pelosi said at a joint press conference with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen. "Today, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy," Pelosi said, as she praised Taiwan as "one of the freest [democracies] in the world, proudly to be led by a woman president."

So if Pelosi's visit � a personal rebuke to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has made the takeover of Taiwan an existential quest � permanently worsens already poor US-China relations and brings forward what some see as an inevitable superpower confrontation, it might turn out to be a massive miscalculation, CNN reported.

Such drills "have invaded Taiwan's territorial space" and "amount to a blockade of Taiwan's air and sea space", the military said, BBC reported. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has also criticised the drills, saying they are an unnecessary reaction and Taiwan was committed to maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

The speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night despite fierce protests from China, becoming the highest-level official to make a formal trip there in decades. In a statement, she said her move "honours America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant democracy".