Nancy Pelosi during her visit to Taiwan as part of her Asia tour.Nancy Pelosi Taiwan visit Highlights: Taiwan scrambled jets on Friday to warn away 49 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the Taiwanese defence ministry said, Reuters reported. At least 30 Chinese aircrafts crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said.
China will not be able to isolate Taiwan by preventing the United States officials from traveling there, US. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday in Tokyo as she wrapped up an Asia tour that has escalated tensions in the region, Reuters reported. “They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there,” she said, defending her trip to the island nation that infuriated China. Pelosi said her visit to Taiwan was not intended to change the status quo for the island but to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and mainland China.
Earlier in the day, China said it is suspending dialogue with the United States on issues from climate change to military relations and anti-drug efforts in retaliation for a visit this week to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to AP. This response is the latest in a series of targeted steps intended to punish Washington for allowing the visit to the island it claims as its own territory.
This come as China continues to hold threatening military exercises in six zones off Taiwan’s coasts. China’s military exercises aimed at Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, represent a “significant escalation,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday. China’s military drills were launched following a visit earlier this week by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that infuriated Beijing. Beijing announced sanctions on Pelosi and her family for her Taipei visit.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, center, walks with Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, left, as she arrives in Taipei, Taiwan, Aug. 2, 2022. (Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
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Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said India is unlikely to be impacted by any adverse developments in Taiwan. The Governor said Taiwan accounts for only 0.7 per cent of India’s overall trade and the capital flows from the island are also not very high.
“…so far as India is concerned, you know, our trade with Taiwan is miniscule. It’s about 0.7 per cent of our total trade. So therefore the impact on India is expected to be very, very, very negligible,” Das told reporters here. (With PTI)
Taiwan scrambled jets on Friday to warn away 49 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the Taiwanese defence ministry said, Reuters reported. At least 30 Chinese aircrafts crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Friday said her visit to Taiwan was not intended to change the status quo for the island but to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and mainland China.
She praised Taiwan's hard-fought democracy and success in technology and business, while criticizing Chinese violations of trade agreements, weapons proliferation and human rights problems, including its treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority.
China will not be able to isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from traveling there, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday in Tokyo as she wrapped up an Asia tour highlighted by a visit to Taipei that infuriated Beijing. Beijing has tried to isolate Taiwan, including by preventing the self-governing island from joining the World Health Organization, Pelosi said.
“They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there,” she said, defending her trip that has escalated tensions in the region.
China on Thursday (August 4) launched aggressive and unprecedented military exercises near Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.
??The “porcupine doctrine”
The “porcupine doctrine”, which was proposed in 2008 by US Naval War College research professor William S Murray, is a strategy of asymmetric warfare focused on fortifying a weak state’s defences to exploit the enemy’s weaknesses rather than taking on its strengths.
??Asymmetric systems of defence
In its 2021 Quadrennial Defence Review, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence defined asymmetric systems as ones that are “small, numerous, smart, stealthy, mobile and hard to be detected and countered”, and “associated with innovative tactics and employments”. According to Taiwan’s former Chief of the General Staff Admiral Lee Hsi-ming, these systems are “a large number of small things”.
??The need for such a strategy
China enjoys overwhelming military superiority over Taiwan. Over the past decade, Beijing has developed far more accurate and precise weapon systems to target Taiwan and has been vocal about its intention to “reunite” the island with the mainland, by force or coercion if needed.
??How easy will it be for China?
Missile strikes, cyberattacks, air and naval blockade aside, undertaking a full-scale invasion across the Taiwan Strait, with attendant risks of anti-ship and anti-air attacks, could present challenges for China. The PLA is estimated to have air and naval resources to carry out an initial landing of 25,000 or more troops, which could increase if it deploys civilian ships to meet its military objectives. However, it will have to first select and secure a suitable beachhead from among the handful that is available.
?? Will cancel dialogues between US and China military leaders.
?? Will suspend US-China cooperation on cross-border crime prevention.
?? Will suspend US-China maritime safety mechanism talks.
China on Friday said that it is cancelling several defence meetings and suspending key climate talks with the US after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit.
China has announced unspecified sanctions on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her visit earlier this week to Taiwan.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Friday that Pelosi had disregarded China’s concerns and resolute opposition to her visit to the self-ruled island, which Beijing claims.
The Chinese statement called Pelosi’s visit provocative and said it undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It said that sanctions would be imposed on Pelosi and her immediate family but did not say what they would be. Such sanctions are generally mostly symbolic in nature. (Read more)
Chinese foreign ministry has said that it will sanction Nancy Pelosi over her Taiwan visit, reported news agency Reuters.
Japanese officials' recent statements on the current tensions in the Taiwan Strait were an attempt to justify the 'wrongdoers', Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday during a regular briefing.
The harsh remarks from Beijing come after foreign ministers of G7 nations - including Japan - called on China on Wednesday to resolve tension around the Taiwan Strait in a peaceful manner, prompting China to cancel a planned meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of ASEAN events in Cambodia. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that China's military exercises aimed at Taiwan including missiles fired into Japan's exclusive economic zone represent a “significant escalation.”
“China has chosen to overreact and use Speaker Pelosi’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait," Blinken said at a news conference in the Cambodian capital. Blinken also said the US stands in “strong solidarity” with Japan following the “dangerous actions China has taken.” (Reuters)
China's firing of missiles around Taiwan is a disproportionate, significant, and unjustified escalation and the United States has made it repeatedly clear to China it does not seek a crisis, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
Blinken told a news conference on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum that the United States would not be provoked by China and Washington was seriously concerned, adding "there was no possible justification for what they have done." (Reuters)
About 10 Chinese navy ships and 20 military aircraft briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Friday morning, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Around 10 Chinese navy ships crossed the median line and remained in the area on Friday morning, and about 20 Chinese military aircraft briefly crossed the median line, said the person, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Earlier, Taiwan's defence ministry said the island's military has dispatched aircraft and ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor the situation there, as China conducts large-scale military drills in zones surrounding Taiwan. (Reuters)
On the Chinese coast across from Taiwan, tourists gathered Friday to try to catch a glimpse of any military aircraft heading toward the exercise area. Fighter jets could be heard flying overhead and tourists taking photos chanted, “Let's take Taiwan back," looking out into the blue waters of the Taiwan Strait from Pingtan island, a popular scenic spot, reported news agency Reuters.
China said it summoned European diplomats in the country to protest statements issued by the Group of Seven nations and the European Union criticising threatening Chinese military exercises surrounding Taiwan.
The Foreign Ministry on Friday said Vice Minister Deng Li made “solemn representations” over what he called “wanton interference in China's internal affairs”.
China had earlier summoned US Ambassador Nicholas Burns to protest Pelosi's visit. (AP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told an Asian meeting of top diplomats on Friday that China's reaction to US house speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan was "flagrantly provocative", a western official said.
Blinken, speaking at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia, said China had sought to intimidate not only Taiwan, but neighbours too, after it launched the largest-ever military drills in the Taiwan Strait, the official said. (Reuters)
China is staging live-fire military drills in six self-declared zones surrounding Taiwan in response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island Beijing claims as its own territory.
China has warned aircraft and ships to avoid the areas during the exercises, which run through Sunday. The drills appear to be a rehearsal for a potential blockade and invasion of the island that would almost certainly draw in Taiwan’s chief supporter, the United States, along with American allies including Japan and Australia. (Read more)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh on Thursday. The meeting comes at a time when US-China tension is high over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, which took place on the margins of an ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ meeting, Blinken referred to concerns over “challenges” in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and the situation in the Indo-Pacific. (Read more)
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Friday the island's military has dispatched aircraft and ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor the situation, as China conducts large-scale military drills in zones surrounding Taiwan.
Multiple Chinese vessels and aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Friday morning the defence ministry said, which described China's military activities as highly provocative.
Taiwan's military will prepare combat readiness but will not ask for a war, the defence ministry added. (Reuters)
News agency AFP shared a video of Chinese military helicopters flying past the Pingtan island, which is one of mainland China's closest points to Taiwan, on Thursday.
Apple Inc iPhone assembler Pegatron Corp's mainland China plant is operating normally, the company said in a statement on Friday.
Contrary to media reports, production has not halted, and there is no stoppage in shipments, the Taiwanese firm said. (Reuters)
China summoned the Japanese ambassador in Beijing to lodge stern representations over its participation in an "erroneous" Group of Seven (G7) nations statement on Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Deng Li issued the diplomatic complaint to Japan's ambassador to China on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry statement said. Earlier, the ministry said it issued a similar complaint to certain European countries and EU envoys to China over the matter. (Reuters)
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that her trip through Asia, which prompted an infuriated China to hold live-fire military drills in the waters off Taiwan, was never about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region.
During a news conference in Tokyo, Pelosi addressed the diplomatic storm caused by the congressional visit to Taipei.
"We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region," she told a news conference after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (Reuters)
Speaking in Japan, Nancy Pelosi said China cannot isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from travelling there, said news agency ANI.
"They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places but they'll not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there...We will not allow them to isolate Taiwan. They're not doing our travel schedule, the Chinese government is not doing that," she said.
She reiterated that US stands by Taiwan, adding "Our friendship with Taiwan is a strong one, it is bipartisan and the House and the Senate's overwhelming support for peace and status quo in Taiwan."
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking in Tokyo on Friday, said China made the missile strikes using her Taiwan visit as "an excuse".
"Our representation here isn't about changing status quo here in Asia, of Taiwan. It's about Taiwan Relations Act, US-China policy, all pieces of legislation and agreements that established our relationship-have peace in Taiwan Straits and have status quo prevail," she said.
"The Chinese made their strikes, probably using our visit as an excuse. They've tried to isolate Taiwan, keeping them most recently from World Health Organisation by not even letting their participation beyond their agency of World Health Agency that makes these determinations," she added.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Friday that China's military exercises aimed at Taiwan represent a “grave problem” that threatens regional peace and security after five ballistic missiles launched as part of the drills landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Kishida, speaking after breakfast with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her congressional delegation, said the missile launches need to be “stopped immediately.”Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said five missiles landed on Thursday in Japan’s exclusive economic zone off Hateruma, an island far south of Japan’s main islands. He said Japan protested to China, saying the missiles “threatened Japan’s national security and the lives of the Japanese people, which we strongly condemn.”
Japan has in recent years bolstered its defense capability and troop presence in southwestern Japan and remote islands, including Okinawa, which is about 700 kilometers northeast of Taiwan. (AP)
The Biden administration postponed a routine test launch of an Air Force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing amid China's show of force near Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US officials.
The US Air Force had planned to conduct the test launch this week from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the report added.
US officials didn't define how long the delay would last, but one said it might last 10 days, the Journal reported.
In April, the US military canceled a test of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. That delay had aimed to lower nuclear tensions with Russia during the war in Ukraine. The nuclear-capable Minuteman III is key part of the US military's strategic arsenal. The missile has a range of 9,660-plus km and can travel at a speed of approximately 24,000 kph. (Reuters)
?? Korean Air Lines Co Ltd said it had cancelled flights between Seoul and Taipei on Friday and Saturday, and would delay a flight on Sunday due to the exercises.
?? Singapore Airlines Ltd said it had cancelled its Friday flights between Singapore and Taipei due to "evolving airspace restrictions" and would continue to monitor the situation in case more adjustments were needed.
?? Japan's ANA Holdings Inc and Japan Airlines Co Ltd are still operating flights to Taipei as normal, spokespeople for the airlines said, but are avoiding the affected airspace on those flights, as well as on routes to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
?? Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Thursday its flights were avoiding designated airspace zones around Taiwan, in a move that could lead to more flying time for some flights.
?? Flight tracking service FlightRadar24 showed Taiwanese carriers China Airlines Ltd and EVA Airways Corp were still flying to and from the island as of Friday morning, as was Philippine Airlines and cargo carriers FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc, though avoiding the areas affected by the military drills.
?? Emirates was still scheduled to fly to Taipei on Friday, according to its website. (Reuters)
Some airlines have cancelled flights to Taipei and rerouted others using nearby airspace that has been closed to civilian traffic during Chinese military exercises sparked by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles near Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest-ever drills in the Taiwan Strait, set to run until noon local time (0400 GMT) on Sunday in six zones encircling much of the island.
The airspace involved is comparatively small, but the disruption is hampering travel between Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. (Reuters)
Southeast Asian countries warned on Thursday of miscalculations in the Taiwan Strait and "serious confrontation" among major powers, while China's foreign minister walked out before a gala dinner at a high-level meeting in Cambodia.
ASEAN is hosting a meeting of 27 countries, including the United States, at a gathering so far overshadowed by developments around Taiwan following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's solidarity trip this week.
It warned the tensions could lead to "open conflicts and unpredictable consequences", and called for maximum restraint. "ASEAN stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue between all parties," the bloc said in a statement. (Reuters)
Taiwan's defence ministry said troops fired flares late on Thursday to drive away four drones that flew above the area of its Kinmen islands, which are just off the southeastern coast of China.
Taiwan has been on alert as China conducts a series of military exercises in response to a visit to the island this week by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (Reuters)
Taiwan's defence ministry said missiles fired by China on Thursday flew high into the atmosphere and constituted no threat to it, responding to public concern about whether they passed over the main island of Taiwan.
The ministry said in a statement it would not disclose the Chinese missile flight path due to intelligence concerns.
Earlier, it said 11 Chinese Dongfeng ballistic missiles had been fired in waters around the island. The last time China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan was in 1996. (Reuters)
Taiwan scrambled jets on Thursday to warn away 22 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the Taiwanese defence ministry said.
All 22 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said. (Reuters)
Japan's foreign minister Nobuo Kishi called for an 'immediate stop' to China's military drills around Taiwan. Five ballistic missiles fired by China appeared to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Kishi said on Thursday, part of military exercises launched by China earlier in the day.
Taiwan will not provoke conflicts but will firmly defend its sovereignty and national security, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday, responding to Chinese military drills near the island.
China fired missiles near Taiwan waters, a day after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a solidarity trip to the self-ruled island. (Reuters)
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday that China's military actions are not only irresponsible to Taiwan but the international community also.
China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles near Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest-ever drills in the Taiwan Strait, a day after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a solidarity trip to the self-ruled island. (Reuters)
Five ballistic missiles fired by China appear to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), Japanese defence minister Nobuo Kishi said on Thursday, part of military exercises launched by China earlier in the day.
'To have five Chinese missiles fall within Japan's EEZ like this is a first,' Kishi told reporters. 'We have protested strongly through diplomatic channels.'
The zone stretches 200 nautical miles from the outer limits of Japan's territorial seas and North Korean missiles have fallen within a different part of Japan's EEZ in the past, including several in a flurry of launches earlier this year. (Reuters)
China scolded foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Thursday for telling Beijing not to use a visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as "pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait".
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi rejected their statement, and chided them for ignoring the provocation that had come from the U.S. side.
"It groundlessly criticises China for taking such measures, which are reasonable and legitimate steps to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wang said in a statement issued by his ministry. (Reuters)
The United States opposes any unilateral efforts to change the Taiwan status quo, especially by force, and its policy on Taiwan has not changed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Southeast Asian counterparts on Thursday.
Cross-strait stability is in the interests of the whole region, he told a meeting in Cambodia, a day after US house speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. It was the highest-level US visit in 25 years, infuriating China, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory.
"We and countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one's interests, including ASEAN members, and including China," Blinken said. (Reuters)
Taiwan will not shirk from defending its territory, in the face of heightened military threats from China, the island's presidential office said in a post on its official Facebook account on Thursday.
It said China's actions of launching military drills around Taiwan had infringed upon international freedom of navigation and normal flow of global trade. (Reuters)
Chinese missiles believed to have landed in Japan's EEZ: Kyodo citing Japan foreign ministry official
China on Thursday held its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, a show of force sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island.
On Wednesday, in some branches of 7-11 convenience stores in Taiwan, the television screens behind cashiers suddenly switched to display the words: "Warmonger Pelosi, get out of Taiwan!"
The largest 24-hour convenience store chain on the island was the victim of what Taiwanese authorities are calling an unprecedented amount of cyber attacks on government websites belonging to the presidential office, foreign and defence ministries as well as infrastructure such as screens at railway stations, in protest against Pelosi's visit.
Taipei has not directly blamed the attacks on the Chinese government, but has said that the attacks on government websites -- which paralysed the sites' operations -- originated from addresses in China and Russia. It also said the firms whose displays were changed had used Chinese software that could have contained backdoors or Trojan horse malware.
Taiwan's digital minister Audrey Tang said the volume of cyber attacks on Taiwan government units on Tuesday, before and during Pelosi's arrival, surpassed 15,000 gigabits, 23 times higher than the previous daily record. (Reuters)
The Kremlin said on Thursday that China had the sovereign right to hold major military drills around Taiwan and accused the United States of artificially fuelling tensions in the region. (Reuters)
Taiwan's defence ministry said on Thursday the Chinese military launched a total of 11 Dongfeng ballistic missiles into waters near Taiwan's northern, southern and eastern coasts in several volleys.
Earlier in the day, Chinese military launched missiles from near Taiwan's Matsu islands. (Reuters)
China says it conducted “precision missile strikes” in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as part of military exercises that have raised tensions in the region to their highest level in decades.
China earlier announced that military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments were underway in six zones surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. (AP)
After infuriating China over her trip to Taiwan, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met South Korean political leaders in Seoul on Thursday but avoided making direct public comments on relations with Beijing and Taipei that could further increase regional tensions.
After visiting Taiwan, Pelosi and other members of her congressional delegation flew to South Korea — a key U.S. ally where about 28,500 American troops are deployed — on Wednesday evening, as part of an Asian tour that included earlier stops in Singapore and Malaysia.
She met South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo and other senior members of Parliament on Thursday. After that hour-long meeting, Pelosi spoke about the bilateral alliance, forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War, and legislative efforts to boost ties, but didn’t directly mention her Taiwan visit or the Chinese protests.
“We also come to say to you that a friendship, a relationship that began from urgency and security, many years ago, has become the warmest of friendships,” Pelosi said in a joint news conference with Kim. “We want to advance security, economy and governance in the inter-parliamentary way.” (AP)
Using force won't solve problems and differences, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said at a regular news briefing on Thursday, the same day China filed multiple missiles around the self-ruled island in unprecedented military drills.
The drills followed a visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday and Wednesday to Taiwan, which Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.
The Council said these drills will not change the fact that the two sides don't belong to each other, and urged the Communist Party to immediately stop intimidating Taiwan. (Reuters)
China is staging live-fire military drills in six self-declared zones surrounding Taiwan in response to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island Beijing claims as its own territory.
China has warned aircraft and ships to avoid the areas during the exercises, which run through Sunday. The drills appear to be a rehearsal for a potential blockade and invasion of the island that would almost certainly draw in Taiwan’s chief supporter, the United States, along with American allies including Japan and Australia. (Read more)
Taiwan canceled airline flights Thursday as the Chinese navy fired artillery near the island in retaliation for a top American lawmaker’s visit, but the impact on shipments of processor chips and other goods needed by global industries was unclear.
On Thursday, at least 40 flights to and from Taiwan were canceled, according to the China Times newspaper. It cited Taoyuan Airport in the capital, Taipei, as saying cancellations were “not necessarily” related to the military drills.
There was no immediate indication of the possible impact on shipping, which has the potential to jolt the global economy. Some flights to the mainland would detour through Hong Kong. (AP)
The Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday that a meeting between China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of ASEAN events in Cambodia had been cancelled.
The Chinese side is strongly displeased with the joint statement put out by the Group of Seven nations about Taiwan, said Hua Chunying, spokesperson at the ministry, at a regular media briefing.
The foreign ministers of G7 nations — including Japan — called on China on Wednesday to resolve tension around the Taiwan Strait in a peaceful manner. (Reuters)
China's Eastern Theatre Command said it had completed multiple firings of conventional missiles on waters off the eastern coast of Taiwan on Thursday as part of planned exercises.
The relevant sea and airspace controls have been lifted after the firing was completed, a spokesperson at the Eastern Theater Command said in a statement. (Reuters)
When Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan late on Tuesday, one of the things that caught everyone’s attention was Pelosi’s wardrobe choice as she opted for rather a vibrant outfit, in contrast to the usually subtle colours worn by world leaders.
Amid a group of people wearing the usual blacks and greys, she captured everyone’s attention as she arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport in a bright pink power suit with a white top worn underneath and accessorised with a string of pearls. Earlier that day, she had visited Malaysia’s parliament wearing the same outfit. Here's what it meant.
Before Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei for a controversial meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen, the White House was careful not to weigh in on the trip, stressing that the speaker of the House makes her own decisions.
But behind the scenes, officials in President Joe Biden’s administration were fuming at her insistence on using the trip as a capstone for her career at a moment of highly delicate relations with Beijing.
In an effort to quietly persuade Pelosi to delay the visit, the White House dispatched senior members of the National Security Council, as well as State Department officials, to brief the speaker and her team on the geopolitical risks, people familiar with the conversations said. (Read more)
China says it conducted “precision missile strikes” in the Taiwan Strait Thursday as part of military exercises that have raised tensions in the region to their highest level in decades. China earlier announced that military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments were underway in six zones surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.
“Long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes were carried out on selected targets in the eastern area of the Taiwan Strait," the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party's military wing, said in a statement on its social media platform. “The expected outcome was achieved," it added. No other details were given. (AP)
Two missiles were launched by China near Taiwan's Matsu islands, which lie off the coast of China, at around 2 pm local time and headed in the direction of the no.2 and no.3 drill zones announced by China, according to an internal Taiwan security report seen be Reuters and confirmed by a security source.
After infuriating China over her trip to Taiwan, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met South Korean political leaders in Seoul on Thursday but avoided making direct public comments on cross-Strait relations that could have further increased regional tensions.
She met South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin Pyo and other senior members of Parliament on Thursday. After that hour-long meeting, Pelosi spoke about the bilateral alliance, forged in blood during the 1950-53 Korean War, and legislative efforts to support a push to boost ties but didn't directly mention her Taiwan visit or the Chinese protests. Neither Pelosi nor Kim took questions from journalists. (AP)
Hours before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in late February, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement that was clear, stern and not really about Russia or Ukraine at all.
“Taiwan is not Ukraine,” Hua Chunying, the ministry’s spokesperson, told reporters in Beijing. “Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact.”
But with no end in sight to the bloody war in Ukraine and with tensions significantly rising in the Taiwan Strait, the two geopolitical challenges are intersecting in complex and unpredictable ways. (Read more)
Chinese navy ships and military aircraft briefly crossed the Taiwan Strait median line on Thursday morning, a Taiwan source briefed on the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
Around 10 Chinese navy ships crossed the median line and remained in the area from Wednesday night through midday on Thursday, and multiple Chinese military aircraft briefly crossed the median line on Thursday morning, said the person, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Taiwan deployed missile systems to track Chinese air force activity near the median line and Taiwanese navy ships remained close to the median line to monitor Chinese navy activity, the person said. (Reuters)