AUG 3: Top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi leaves Taiwan after meeting its President Tsai Ing-wen, despite warnings from China not to do so.
She praised Taiwan as an island of resilience and said the US commitment to democracy there was iron-clad.
China says it will hold a series of live-fire military drills in the air and sea around the island from Thursday.
Taiwan says the move violates the island's sovereignty and amounts to a blockade.
The US speaker's trip, which was not backed by President Biden, was the first by such a senior US official in 25 years.
Beijing sees self-ruled Taiwan - which lies 100 miles from the Chinese mainland - as a breakaway province that it aims to retake.