China conducts drills around Taiwan as lawmakers visit island

China conducted military drills around Taiwan on Friday as a U.S. congressional delegation visited the island in a show of support for a fellow democracy, with Beijing blamed the lawmakers for raising tensions with their provocative trip.

The People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said in a statement released by the People s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command that China sent frigates, bombers and fighter planes to the East China Sea and the area around Taiwan.

This operation is in response to the recent release of wrong signals by the United States on the Taiwan issue, but it doesn't mention the visiting U.S. delegation.

The U.S. bad actions and tricks are very dangerous and completely futile. It said that those who play with fire will burn themselves.

China's defense ministry said the U.S. visit was deliberately provocative and had resulted in further escalation of tension in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan is a source of tension between Beijing and Washington.

The war in Ukraine and provocative behavior by China have united the U.S. opinion in a way never seen before, according to Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon democracy and freedom, he said. There is a backlash to thuggery in the world. Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the technology hub is a country of global significance and its security has implications for the world.

A bipartisan group of six lawmakers arrived in a previously unannounced trip Thursday for a two-day visit.

Such visits and references to Taiwan as a country always anger Beijing, which dismisses any suggestion that Taiwan is a country. China regards the island as one of its provinces.

The United States has no formal relations with Taiwan, but it is its most important international backer and arms supplier.

Menendez acknowledged that the Chinese government was very unhappy with the delegation's visit, but said that would not dissuade the group from supporting Taiwan.

Taiwan produces 90 percent of the world's high-end semiconductor products, it is a country of global significance, consequence and impact, and therefore it should be understood that the security of Taiwan has a global impact, Menendez told Tsai.

Taiwan has been heartened by the U.S. support of the Biden administration, which has repeatedly spoken of its commitment to the democratically governed island.

That has added to the strains in Sino-U. The invasion of Ukraine has put Taipei on alert for any possible moves by Beijing to use the Ukraine crisis to make a move on the island. The government hasn't reported any signs that China is about to invade.

Taiwan has complained of stepped up Chinese military activity for the past two years, including nearly daily air force flights into Taiwan's air defense zone, but not close to the island itself.