China to hold five yearly congress on October 16 to reappoint Xi Jinping as the longest serving leader in Mao Zedong

Taiwan fired warning shots at a Chinese drone flying close to the island for the first time on Tuesday as Taipei signalled it would no longer tolerate Beijings provocative actions on its territory.

Chinese drones have been buzzing Taiwans outlying islands in the weeks following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit last month, which prompted missile launches and war games by Beijing.

Defence authorities said live rounds were fired at the drone on Tuesday night instead of flares, which were used previously. The drone was not shot down and it returned to China.

Taiwans leaders said they would take strong countermeasures against Chinese incursions and refuse to bow to pressure from Beijing to relinquish its democratic autonomy.

They [China] are changing the status quo, Taiwans Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Tah-Ray Yui said this week when asked by The Australian Financial Review about Chinas incursions.

The median line has been there for decades and has been a source of stability in the Taiwan Strait, and now they are saying it is not international waters. Speaker Pelosi is just an excuse [by China].

We are under a lot of pressure and they [China] wanted to intimidate us, but life went on pretty much as normal. We are very encouraged by the amount of support we got from many friends, he said.

Two US warships passed through the Taiwan Strait this week in a move China has described as a threat to its sovereignty. Solomon Islands also this week suspended entry into its waters for US and foreign navy ships in the latest sign of Beijings rising influence in the Pacific .

In China, tensions with the US are overshadowed by the countrys latest economic challenges as GDP growth slows to its lowest rate in decades.

Record heatwaves, drought, energy shortages and a property crisis compound an economic slowdown exacerbated by months of COVID-19 lockdowns as Mr Xi pursues a zero-case strategy.

However, experts and diplomats in China said his leadership was still unlikely to go unchallenged, despite rumours of internal rumblings over his tight grip on power and the countrys economic management.

With Reuters