Pelosi says US 'will not abandon' Taiwan as China orders live-fire drills

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she and other members of a congressional delegation "came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear we will not abandon our commitment" to the self-governing island. Pelosi and her delegation landed in Taipei on Tuesday night despite repeated warnings not to visit from mainland China, which claims the island as its own territory. She is the first U.S. speaker to visit Taiwan in more than 25 years. Beijing considers any official contact with Taiwan a recognition of its democratically elected government, which the mainland's ruling Communist Party asserts has…