Tension rises as China conducts drills near Taiwan and warns US Congress over Taiwan meeting.

China's second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, is conducting exercises in the western Pacific near Taiwan amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait over a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy. The deployment shows the Shandong is "fully ready for far sea operations and safeguarding China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity," according to state-run media. The exercises come as Tsai met McCarthy in the US state of California, in a stopover furiously condemned by Beijing, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own.