China to begin series of unprecedented live-fire drills off Taiwan coast

China is to begin a series of unprecedented live-fire drills that would effectively blockade the island of Taiwan, just hours after the departure of US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, whose controversial visit this week has sparked fears of a crisis in the Taiwan strait.

Ahead of the drill, it said 27 Chinese warplanes had entered its air defence zone.

Pelosi arrived in Taipei on Tuesday night under intense global scrutiny, and was met by the foreign minister Joseph Wu and the US representative in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk.

Veerle Nouwens, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based thinktank, said the location of the six exclusion zones was noteworthy.

Taiwanese authorities have said the proximity to some major ports combined with orders for all aircraft and sea vessels to steer clear of the area amount to a blockade.

Across the region, there is a growing sense of uncertainty, with the exercises having also upset regional neighbours. Japanese analysts said the northern drills were also a clear warning to their government about islands over which Tokyo and Beijing both claim ownership.

According to local reports, some customers thought the message was a statement of the views of the 7-Eleven franchise owner. But Uni-president, the parent company, told local media it suspected it had been hacked.