AFP
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NOS News•today, 07:47
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China has begun military exercises around Taiwan that the country had announced, Chinese state television reported. The exercises are a response to the visit of top American politician Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, which Beijing was an eyesore. The Chinese foreign minister called her visit irresponsible and highly irrational.
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According to the state broadcaster, shots are fired from the sea and in the air around Taiwan. “Six large areas around the island have been selected for this combat exercise,” reports the broadcaster. Other ships and aircraft are not allowed to enter those areas during exercises.
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Prior to was the expectation that several warplanes and warships would fire live ammunition several miles off the Taiwanese coast. According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense, China has already flown drones over Taiwan last night. When the island responded with flares, the drones disappeared again.
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In response to China’s controversial military exercises, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense says the country is “preparing for war, without seeking war”.
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Visit to Taiwan
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives and second in line after the vice president, visited Taiwan on Tuesday and yesterday as part of an Asia trip. Until shortly before her visit, it was unclear whether she would actually visit the East Asian country, because the relationship between the US and Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, is sensitive. China put a lot of pressure on in advance to skip Taiwan, including by threatening a military response.
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Nevertheless, Pelosi went to Taiwan, where she spoke yesterday with President Tsai Ing-wen, among others. The US politician stressed that she had come to show that the US stands behind Taiwan and that the country’s independence is one of the spearheads of US foreign policy. Incidentally, her visit was also sensitive in the US itself: President Biden, among others, had expressed his doubts about it beforehand, because the relationship between the US and China is very tense.
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