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China has fired missiles near Taiwan as part of huge military drills following a visit by senior US politician Nancy Pelosi to the island, BBC reported.

Taiwan said China launched 11 ballistic missiles into waters around Taiwan's north-east and south-west coasts.

Japan said five Chinese missiles landed in its waters as well, calling for an "immediate stop" to the exercises.

China saw the visit, by the US house speaker Mrs Pelosi, as a challenge to its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. 

It sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be brought under its control - by force if necessary.

The US, for its part, does not officially recognise Taiwan, which has for all practical purposes been independent since 1950. However, Washington maintains a strong relationship with the island - which includes selling weapons for Taiwan to defend itself.

"The exercises focus on key training sessions including joint blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, airspace control operation," the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.

Ms Pelosi's brief visit to Taiwan on Wednesday fuelled tensions, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi describing it as "manic, irresponsible and irrational". She is the most senior US politician to visit the island in 25 years. Ms Pelosi is now in Japan for the last stage of her Asian tour.

China responded by conducting an unprecedented launch of ballistic missiles and the military drills just off the Taiwanese coast.

Taiwan's defence ministry said it had activated its defence systems and was monitoring the situation, according to BBC.

Taiwan's ministry of foreign affairs accused China of "following the example of North Korea in wilfully test-firing missiles into waters near other countries".

North Korea - a strong ally of China's - has been accused of igniting tensions in the region by repeatedly launching missile tests in recent months.

On Thursday, Japan voiced its strong protest over the Chinese missile launches. 

"We strongly condemn the act as it is a serious issue concerning Japan's security and the safety of Japanese people," Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

China's missile launches are causing disruption to shipping lanes and flights to and from Taiwan.

Ships have been forced to re-route, with days-long disruptions expected to have an impact on supply chains with delays to global shipping, BBC reported.

More than 50 international flights from Taiwan's Taoyuan International Airport have been cancelled.

The United States opposes any unilateral efforts to change the Taiwan status quo, especially by force, and its policy on Taiwan has not changed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian counterparts on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Cross-strait stability is in the interests of the whole region, he told a meeting in Cambodia, a day after US house speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. It was the highest-level US visit in 25 years, infuriating China, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory.

“We and countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests, including ASEAN members, and including China,” Blinken said.

On Thursday, China fired multiple missiles as it conducted the largest-ever military drills around Taiwan, while Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China had made the utmost diplomatic effort to avert crisis, but would never allow its core interests to be hurt.

Blinken is in Cambodia for a security-focused meeting of more than 27 countries expected to discuss a food crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, stability in the Taiwan Strait, and the crisis in Myanmar.

Blinken and ASEAN pledged during their meeting to upgrade ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

He earlier met Qatar’s foreign minister to talk about developments in Afghanistan and Iran and discussed Sri Lanka’s economic crisis with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

He later met Sri Lanka’s new foreign minister, Ali Sabry and promised support for the country reeling from an economic and political crisis, which he said presented a new challenge and opportunity, according to Reuters.

Blinken said the United States backed Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund working out an equitable arrangement on debt restructuring.

“There’s an opportunity in this moment, to create a more inclusive, representative, democratic, responsive government,” Blinken said. “And to use this crisis to seize that opportunity to make something very positive about a very difficult situation.”

He told Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen the United States wanted “a strong, positive relationship” between the two countries, in a rare meeting at a time of strained ties over the long-serving leader’s crackdown on the opposition and closer military ties with ally China.

The United States has called for greater transparency from Cambodia’s over development of its Ream naval base with China’s help, which the US sees as Beijing’s attempts to build influence in the region.

Blinken announced the United States would provide $25 million to Cambodia in food aid and agricultural cooperation critical to address food insecurity caused by what he called Russia’s “aggression” in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Arun Subedi has been appointed as the foreign affairs advisor of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

A Cabinet meeting held on Thursday decided to appoint Subedi as the foreign affairs advisor of the Prime Minister.

He is a political analyst.

The government is preparing to hire around 100, 000 temporary police personnel for the federal and provincial elections slated for November 20.

Nepal Police spokesperson Tek Prasad Rai said that the process to hire the temporary police personnel will be taken ahead soon.

“We will move ahead by making a centralized security plan,” he said, adding, “There is a possibility to hire around 100, 000 temporary police personnel for the elections. We will move ahead by evaluating the security threat.”

Earlier, the government had hired 119, 000 temporary police personnel for the local level elections.