Article author:
Reuters
Yimou Lee and David Brunnstrom
TAIPEI — Chinese aircraft and warships rehearsed Saturday for an attack on the island, officials said. This is part of Beijing's retaliation for the visit of the US House of Representatives. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also included a halt to talks with the United States on issues such as defense and climate change.
This week, Pelosi's brief visit to an autonomous island that China considers its own territory has infuriated Beijing and led to an unprecedented number of attacks around Taiwan, including ballistic missiles fired into the capital Taipei. encouraged military exercises.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accused China of taking "irresponsible steps" by shutting down key communication channels with Washington, and China's actions, from prioritizing peaceful resolutions, to power.
Taiwan's defense ministry said on Saturday that multiple Chinese warships and aircraft carried out missions in the Taiwan Strait. Some crossed the central line — an unofficial buffer separating the two sides — that the Taiwanese military described as a mock attack on Taiwan. island.
The ministry later said Taiwan scrambled jets to warn 20 of her Chinese aircraft, including 14 of hers, that crossed the center line. It added that it had spotted 14 Chinese warships operating around the Taiwan Strait. China's exercises, centered around his six locations on the
island, are scheduled to begin Thursday and continue until noon Sunday. China's Eastern Theater Command said it is continuing joint maritime and air exercises north, southwest and east of Taiwan. He said the focus would be on testing land- and sea-attack capabilities.
The United States called these moves escalations.
"These activities have significantly escalated China's efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible and increase the risk of miscalculation," said a White House spokesperson. said. “They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, which the world expects.”
Longtime China Critic and Pelosi, a political ally of US President Joe Biden, arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday. Decades despite China's warnings. Pelosi said her visit showed the United States' unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's democracy, noting that "the world faces a choice between dictatorship and democracy."
Shortly after her delegation left Japan, the final destination of a week-long Asian tour, on Friday, China announced it was suspending dialogue with the United States in a range of areas.
Taiwan has been under self-government since 1949, when Mao Zedong's communists came to power in Beijing after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang nationalists in a civil war, and has called for a withdrawal to the island. urged.
Beijing has stated that its relationship with Taiwan is an internal matter and that it reserves the right to subjugate the island by force if necessary. Taiwan rejects China's claims that only the people of Taiwan can decide their future.
Chinese Exercises
Chinese warships and aircraft continued to "strike" the center line of the Taiwan Strait on Saturday afternoon, said a source familiar with the security plan. Chinese warships and drones simulated attacks on U.S. and Japanese warships off the east coast of Taiwan and near the Japanese archipelago, the person added.
The Taiwanese military deployed air reconnaissance patrols and ships to monitor and alert land-based missiles while they waited.
The island's defense ministry said late Friday to keep away seven of his drones flying over Kinmen and an unidentified aircraft flying over Matsu. He said he fired flares. Both island groups are close to the coast of China.
"China's military exercises have unilaterally changed the regional status quo and seriously undermined peace in the Taiwan Strait," the ministry said.
Speaking during a visit to the Philippines, Brinken said the United States had heard concerns from allies about China's dangerous and volatile behavior around Taiwan, but Washington was unwilling to deal with the situation. To keep things stable and not let things escalate.
He said China's suspension of bilateral dialogue in her eight key areas was a move to punish the world.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a media briefing on Friday that Blinken was spreading "misinformation", adding: Please don't cause more crises unnecessarily.
China has made no mention of suspending military talks at the highest levels, including US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. These meetings were rare, but officials say they are important in case of emergency.
Pelosi, speaking in Japan after meeting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, said her He said the visit to Asia "does not change the status quo of Taiwan or the region."
Japan's Ministry of Defense reported that an unprecedented four missiles flew over Taiwan's capital. It also said five of the nine missiles launched into its territory landed in its exclusive economic zone.
(Reporting by Yimou Lee, Taipei; David Brunnstrom, Manila; Brenda Goh, Shanghai; Meg Shen, Hong Kong; Jeff Mason, Washington; additional reporting by Ryan Woo; writing by Tony Munroe and Greg Torode; Robert Barthel, Will Dunham, Francis Kelly)