China holds drills around Taiwan as U.S. lawmakers visit

Bob Menendez, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and other members of the U.S. delegation arrive at Taipei Songshan airport in Taipei, Taiwan April 14, 2022. Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Handout via REUTERS

China said it conducted military drills around Taiwan on Friday as a U.S. Congressional delegation visited the island in a show of support to a fellow democracy, with Beijing blaming the lawmakers for raising tensions with their "provocative" trip.

China's military sent frigates, bombers and fighter planes to the East China Sea and the area around Taiwan, the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theatre Command said, in a statement released as the lawmakers were holding a news conference in Taipei.