APRIL 7 (Aljazeera): BEIJING In response to Beijing's displeasure at this week's meeting between Tsai Ing-wen, the president of the self-governing island, and Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the US House of Representatives, China has deployed warships and planes near Taiwan for a second day and imposed penalties.
According to Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense on Friday, three Chinese warships cruised in the waters surrounding the island, which China claims as its own. A fighter aircraft and an anti-submarine helicopter also flew above the island's air defense identification zone.
Hours before Tsai and McCarthy met in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong was seen traveling through Taiwan's southeast seas on its route to the western Pacific.
Beijing issued many warnings prior to the conference and a censure on Thursday upon its conclusion.
According to Mao Ning, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, "China will take firm and forceful measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
After McCarthy's predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited the island in August of last year, China made its greatest display of force in years by deploying warships, missiles, and fighter planes into the waters and skies surrounding Taiwan. McCarthy, the third-ranking lawmaker in the US, had intended to travel to Taiwan but changed his mind and met Tsai in California.
Taiwan has so far reacted to the Tsai-McCarthy summit with more restraint, although it is still on guard.
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