China in the Taiwan Strait began rehearsals for a "full encirclement" of the island, state television reported, on the first day of military exercises that will run through Monday, coinciding with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's return home from a 10-day trip to Central America.
The Chinese army surrounded Taiwan from four sides on Saturday morning during the first day of the three-day military exercise, in what appeared to be a response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's visit to the United States.
"The maneuvers began to encircle Taiwan from 4 directions, with combat alert patrols and joint exercises," the government newspaper "Global Times" quoted a statement issued by the spokesman for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese army, Colonel Shi Yi.
The Chinese military official added: "These exercises serve as a stern warning to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence, and their collusion with outside powers."
China believes that this step is necessary in order to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the same statement.
The latest development came after Tsai Ing-wen returned home Friday at the end of a 10-day trip to Central America and the United States, during which she met Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy in California.
For its part, the Ministry of Defense in Taipei said on Saturday that the Chinese military exercises threaten "stability and security" in the region. The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense added in a statement that China "used President Tsai's visit and passage to the United States as an excuse to conduct military exercises that seriously undermine peace, stability and security in the region."
The ministry affirmed that it will deal with Beijing's declaration calmly and rationally, in a manner that does not include any escalation or provoking conflict.
It said that during the past 24 hours it had detected four Chinese aircraft in the air defense zone of Taiwan.
The Taiwan leader is scheduled to meet a delegation from the US House of Representatives, led by Michael Cole, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, later Saturday.
After negotiations hosted by Beijing, a Saudi delegation is discussing reopening embassies in Tehran
The official Saudi Press Agency reported that a Saudi delegation arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, to discuss the implementation of the reopening of embassies and the return of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which were severed since 2016, two days after the second round hosted by Beijing between the two sides.
A Saudi delegation arrived in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Saturday evening, to discuss implementing the reopening of embassies.
This came, according to the Saudi Press Agency, two days after the second round hosted by Beijing between the Saudi and Iranian sides to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries, which were severed in 2016.
According to the agency, "the Saudi technical team concerned with discussing mechanisms for reopening the kingdom's representations in Iran arrived in the capital, Tehran."
She explained that this is "in implementation of the joint tripartite agreement of Saudi Arabia, Iran and China (...) and as a continuation of what the two sides agreed upon in ministerial talks on Thursday."
The Saudi technical team, headed by Nasser bin Awad Al-Ghanoum, met the chief of protocol at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Honardost, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran, according to the agency.
During the meeting, the team leader expressed his "thanks to Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Honardost, for the warm welcome the team received and facilitating the team's arrival procedures."
While Honardost expressed "his country's readiness and readiness to provide all facilities and support to facilitate the mission of the Saudi team," according to the agency.
On Thursday, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, and the Iranian, Hussein Amir Abdullahian, agreed at a meeting in Beijing to start arrangements for opening the embassies of the two countries within the agreed period of two months.
On March 10, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced the resumption of their diplomatic relations and the reopening of embassies within two months, following Chinese-sponsored talks in Beijing, according to a joint statement by the three countries.
In January 2016, Saudi Arabia severed its relations with Iran, following attacks on the Riyadh embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad (east), in protest against the kingdom's execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, on charges including "terrorism."
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