China says will decide to hold military exercises around Taiwan "according to the situation of the struggle"

BEIJING - China said on Friday that it would decide whether to hold military exercises in response to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's recent U.S. visit "according to our own needs and the situation of the struggle."

"Tactics and currents are always changing," Wu Qian, a defence ministry spokesperson, said in a statement on the ministry's official WeChat account. "Regardless of whether exercises are held, the People's Liberation Army will not be absent in the fight against 'independence' and the promotion of unification," he added.

(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Sandra Maler)