Britain and China hold joint naval exercises

Britain and China conducted their first ever joint naval exercises off China's coast on Sunday.
The drills were the latest the People's Liberation Army - the world's biggest military with 2.5 million men and officers - has held with forces from other countries, including France in March and Pakistan and India last year.
"We've done some very basic manoeuvres at sea before, but this is the next step up," Andrew Reed, commander in chief of the British Royal Navy's air defence destroyer HMS Exeter, told reporters from the deck of his ship on Saturday.
The exercises were the first between the two countries since Britain switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing 50 years ago, China's Xinhua news agency quoted a Defence Ministry spokesman as saying.