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The ruling coalition has decided to continue the alliance till the elections.

A meeting of the coalition held at Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s official residence in Baluwatar on Friday decided to continue the alliance till the federal and provincial elections.

CPN (Unified Socialist) senior leader Jhalanath Khanal said that the parties associated with the ruling coalition have reached an understanding to complete all the process to forge electoral alliances by August 23.

“The parties have decided to move ahead by forging electoral alliances till the elections,” he said, adding, “A task force will be formed to complete the process to forge alliances.”

The government on Thursday had decided to hold the federal and provincial elections on November 20.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka is set to leave for China.

Minister Khadka is visiting China at the invitation of State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi from August 9 to 11, 2022.

During the visit, the two ministers will hold delegation-level bilateral talks, leading their respective delegations in Qingdao, China on August 10, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

The Chinese minister will host a banquet in honor of Minister Khadka and the members of the delegation.

Khadka will return home on August 11.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that China will not isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from traveling there, Associated Press reported.

She made the remarks in Tokyo, the final leg of an Asia tour highlighted by a visit to Taiwan that infuriated China.

Pelosi, the first House speaker to visit Taiwan in 25 years, said Wednesday in Taipei that the U.S. commitment to democracy in the self-governing island and elsewhere “remains ironclad.”

Pelosi and five other members of Congress arrived in Tokyo late Thursday after visiting Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea.

China, which claims Taiwan and has threatened to annex it by force if necessary, called her visit to the island a provocation and on Thursday began military drills, including missile firing, in six zones surrounding Taiwan.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that China’s military exercises aimed at Taiwan represent a “grave problem” that threatens regional peace and security after five ballistic missiles launched as part of the drills landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Kishida, speaking after breakfast with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her congressional delegation, said the missile launches need to be “stopped immediately.”

China, which claims Taiwan and has threatened to annex it by force if necessary, called Pelosi’s visit earlier this week to the self-ruled island a provocation and on Thursday began military exercises, including missile strike training, in six zones surrounding Taiwan, in what could be its biggest since the mid-1990s.

In Taipei on Wednesday, Pelosi said the American commitment to democracy in Taiwan and elsewhere “remains ironclad.” She became the first House speaker to visit the island in 25 years, according to Associated Press.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said five missiles landed on Thursday in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Hateruma, an island far south of Japan’s main islands. He said Japan protested to China, saying the missiles “threatened Japan’s national security and the lives of the Japanese people, which we strongly condemn.”

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, attending a regional meeting in Cambodia, said China’s actions are “severely impacting peace and stability in the region and the international community, and we demand the immediate suspension of the military exercises.”

Japan has in recent years bolstered its defense capability and troop presence in southwestern Japan and remote islands, including Okinawa, which is about 700 kilometers (420 miles) northeast of Taiwan. Many residents say they worry their island will be quickly embroiled in any Taiwan conflict. Okinawa is home to the majority of about 50,000 American troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact.

At the breakfast earlier Friday, Pelosi and her congressional delegation also discussed their shared security concern over China, North Korea and Russia, and pledged their commitment to working toward peace and stability in Taiwan, Kishida said. Pelosi also was to hold talks with her Japanese counterpart, lower house Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda.

Japan and its key ally, America, have been pushing for new security and economic frameworks with other democracies in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe as a counter to China’s growing influence amid rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

Days before Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, a group of senior Japanese lawmakers, including former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, visited the island and discussed regional security with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. Ishiba said Japan, while working with the United States to prevent conflict in the Indo-Pacific, wants a defense agreement with Taiwan, Associated Press reported.

On Thursday, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations issued a statement saying “there is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait.” It said China’s “escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilizing the region.”

China cited its displeasure over the statement for the last-minute cancellation of talks between the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting in Cambodia on Thursday, according to Associated Press.

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.