tension rises • the Millimeter

(Adnkronos) – Tensions are rising between Taiwan and China. In addition to having conducted military exercises with jets and anti-missile systems, Taipei has announced that President William Lai (Lai Ching-te) will stop in Hawaii and Guam during his trip which will take him to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu from next Saturday to Friday and Palau, among the island’s 12 allies. While China’s pressure increases, with Taipei’s Ministry of Defense confirming that it has detected the presence of two other Chinese hot air balloons north of the island, Taiwan conducted maneuvers, which continued for two hours and were carried out close to the first visit abroad by the president of the island, with the declared aim of testing the “response and engagement procedures” of the Defense Sector. And “guarantee the security of the airspace” of Taiwan, a de facto independent island which for China is a “rebel province” to be “reunified”. As part of the constant Chinese pressure to which the island is subjected, this morning the Ministry of Defense of Taipei reported that in 24 hours the presence of seven ships and 13 military aircraft was detected around Taiwan, nine of which exceeded the ” “middle line” of the Taiwan Strait, which Beijing does not recognize. And the exercises come amidst rumors of possible new major Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan. Any attempt for “Taiwan independence” will be “decisively crushed”. It is the threat that comes from China, which considers the de facto independent island a “rebel province” for which it wants “reunification”. The “Chinese military has the sacred mission of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity and will resolutely crush all attempts to secede for Taiwan’s independence,” said Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry, after the news of the first foreign trip of the president of Taiwan. The Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau are among the island’s 12 allies, the only countries in the world that recognize its government without adhering to Beijing’s “one China” principle. For William Lai, this will be Lai’s first trip abroad, elected in January and as president since May 20th. Lai will spend two nights in Hawaii and one in Guam, to meet “old friends” and “think tank members”, a source from Taiwan’s presidential office told AFP. The visits of Taiwan’s leaders to US territory have always aroused the ire of Beijing, which considers the island – de facto independent – a “rebel province” to be “reunified”. And even today the Asian giant, which never spares accusations against the United States for its support for Taiwan, immediately contested what it considers “separatist actions”. “We have always opposed official exchanges between the US and Taiwan – said the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, Mao Ning – and any form of support from the United States to the separatists for Taiwan’s independence and their actions “. Already in recent days, when news began to circulate about Lai’s trip to the island’s allies in the Pacific, China – which considers Lai a “dangerous separatist” – had asked the US authorities to “not allow” the president of Taiwan to “transit through US territory”. But ‘transit diplomacy’ is a tradition for Taipei, increasingly under Chinese pressure. —internazionale/[email protected] (Web Info)