Pelosi leaves Taiwan

The US House Speaker's plane has taken off from Songshan airport, ending visit of less than 24 hours to the island.

AUG 3: Top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi leaves Taiwan after meeting its President Tsai Ing-wen, despite warnings from China not to do so.

She praised Taiwan as an island of resilience and said the US commitment to democracy there was iron-clad.

China says it will hold a series of live-fire military drills in the air and sea around the island from Thursday.

Taiwan says the move violates the island's sovereignty and amounts to a blockade.

The US speaker's trip, which was not backed by President Biden, was the first by such a senior US official in 25 years.

Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan - which lies 100 miles from the Chinese mainland - as a breakaway province that it aims to retake.

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