Taiwan Canal in Drillless After Pelosi Expands Turquoise China Opportunities

 Thursday 04 August 2022

A rocket force under the Eastern Theater Command of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducts conventional missile tests in waters off the east coast of Taiwan from an undisclosed location in this handout released on August 4, 2022. — via Eastern Theater Command/Handout Writers

1. After the US official's visit to Taiwan, China held military drills.
2. China, angered by the US and Taiwan, called the drills an internal matter.
3. Taiwan says 22 Chinese fighter jets are crossing the median line.
4. Japan says five missiles landed in its economic zone.
5. Exercises around Taiwan will continue until Sunday.

TAIPEI: China deployed multiple aircraft and fired live missiles near Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest drills in the Taiwan Strait, a day after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi paid a solidarity visit to the autonomous island.

China's military has confirmed multiple firings of conventional missiles into Taiwanese waters as of Sunday afternoon as part of planned drills in six zones. It activated more than 100 aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, and more than 10 warships, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Taiwan's defense ministry said it had sent jets into its air defense zone to warn of 22 Chinese fighter jets crossing the center line of the Taiwan Strait, and said troops were fighting flames late Thursday. Fired to repel four drones that had flown above his Kinmen area. Islands off the southeast coast of China.

It said the missiles fired by China flew high in the air and posed no threat, responding to public concerns about whether they had passed over the main island of Taiwan.

Japan protested that five missiles landed in its economic zone.

"US-Taiwanese collusion and provocation will only push Taiwan into the abyss of destruction, bringing disaster to Taiwan's compatriots," said a spokesman for China's Ministry of Defense.

Reacting to the Chinese drills, President Tsai Ing-wen said that Taiwan will not provoke conflicts but will firmly defend its sovereignty and national security.

"Taiwan will never be defeated by challenges," Tsai said in a recorded video message to the Taiwanese people.

"We are calm and not excited, we are rational and not provocative, but we will also be steadfast and not shirk."

Taiwan said 11 Chinese Dongfeng ballistic missiles were fired into nearby waters - the first since 1996.

Taiwanese officials said the drills violated UN rules, invaded its territory and threatened free air and sea navigation. It has been self-governing since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists took power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalists in a civil war, leaving the KMT-led government on the island. Had to retreat.

The military action followed Pelosi's unannounced expansion of support for Taiwan in response to warnings from China.

Hacker attacks

To avoid further escalating tensions with Beijing, the United States postponed a routine test of an Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials. An official said the delay could last up to 10 days, the report said.

Chinese navy ships and military aircraft briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line several times on Thursday before the drills officially began, a Taiwanese source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

By midday, warships from both sides remained close as Taiwan also scrambled jets and deployed missile systems to track Chinese planes crossing the line.

"They went in and then flew out. They keep harassing us," the Taiwanese source said.

China, which has long said it reserves the right to seize Taiwan by force, says its differences with the island are an internal matter.

In Taiwan, life was largely normal, despite fears that Beijing could fire missiles at the main island, as North Korea did at Japan's northern island of Hokkaido in 2017.

"When China says it wants to annex Taiwan by force, they have actually said it for a long time," said Chen Mingcheng, a 38-year-old realtor. "From my personal understanding, they are trying to deflect public anger, anger of their own people, and redirect it to Taiwan."

Taiwan said the websites of its defense ministry, foreign ministry and presidential office were attacked by hackers and warned of impending "psychological warfare".

'Comrade Pelosi'

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Pelosi's visit to Taiwan "a crazy, irresponsible and highly irrational" act, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Addressing a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Cambodia, Wang said that China has tried to avert the crisis through diplomatic means, but it will never let its core interests be hurt.

Unusually, the drills in six regions around Taiwan were announced with a locator map circulated by China's state-run Xinhua news agency - an element that some analysts consider domestic and Foreigner exemplifies the game for both audiences.

In Beijing, security near the US embassy was unusually tight, although there were no signs of major protests.

"I think it (Pelosi's visit) is a good thing," said Zhao, a man in Beijing. "It gives us an opportunity to encircle Taiwan, then use that opportunity to seize Taiwan by force. I think we should thank Comrade Pelosi."

Pelosi, the highest-profile U.S. visit to Taiwan in 25 years, praised its democracy and pledged U.S. solidarity during her brief stay. He said that Chinese anger cannot stop world leaders from traveling there.

"Our delegation came to Taiwan to make it clear that we are not going to abandon Taiwan," Pelosi told Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who asked Beijing for formal independence. Pressure is suspected - a red line for China.

China summoned the US ambassador to Beijing in protest and blocked several agricultural imports from Taiwan.

The foreign ministers of the United States and the Group of Seven nations have warned China against using Pelosi's visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC, "We're watching this very closely. We urge the Chinese not to overreact here. The way they have. There is no reason to react or escalate the tension."

The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but is obligated under US law to provide it with the means of self-defense. Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only the islanders can decide their own future.

A UN spokesperson said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is watching the development closely and with concern.