China’s leader makes rare visit to province facing Taiwan following major war exercises

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s President Xi Jinping has made a rare visit to a province facing Taiwan, following military exercises mobilizing China’s navy, air force, missile force and land troops to simulate a blockade of the self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its own territory and threatens to annex by force. Xi did not comment on the military exercises during his visit to Fujian province, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, but his visit came on the heels of China’s dispatch of a record 125 aircraft, as well as its Liaoning aircraft carrier and ships, in large-scale military exercises surrounding Taiwan and its outlying islands Monday.