BEIJING-
China said on Monday it was staging threatening military exercises around Taiwan that have disrupted sea and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to world trade.
The exercises would include anti-submarine drills, ostensibly aimed at US support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion, according to social media posts from the eastern leadership of China’s ruling Communist Party’s military arm, the People’s Liberation Army.
The military has said the exercises involving missile strikes, fighter jets and ship movements crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides were a response to the visit by the speaker of the US House of Representatives. States, Nancy Pelosi, to the self-governing island last week.
China has ignored calls to defuse tensions and there were no immediate indications when what amounts to a lockdown would end.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday it detected a total of 66 aircraft and 14 warships carrying out naval and air drills. The island has responded by putting its military on alert and deploying ships, aircraft and other assets to monitor Chinese planes, ships and drones that are “simulating attacks on the island of Taiwan and our ships at sea.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported that the Taiwanese military will hold live-fire artillery drills in southern Pingtung County on Tuesday and Thursday, in response to the Chinese drills.
The exercises will include snipers, combat vehicles, armored vehicles and attack helicopters, according to the report, citing an anonymous source.
China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has threatened to annex it by force if necessary. The two sides parted ways in 1949 after a civil war, but Beijing views visits to Taiwan by foreign officials as recognition of its sovereignty.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has called on the international community to “support democratic Taiwan” and “stop any escalation of the regional security situation.” The Group of Seven industrialized countries also criticized China’s actions, prompting Beijing to cancel a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi.
China has broken off defense and climate talks with the United States and imposed sanctions on Pelosi in retaliation for her visit.
The Biden administration and Pelosi say the United States remains committed to a “one China” policy that extends formal diplomatic recognition to Beijing while allowing for strong informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
However, the United States criticized Beijing’s actions across the Taiwan Strait, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling them “fundamentally irresponsible.”
“There is no need or reason for this escalation,” said Jean-Pierre.
In Washington, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao said China had no reason to “be so angry” about Pelosi’s visit, which follows a long tradition of US lawmakers visiting Taiwan.
“Well, you know, we’ve been living under the threat of China for decades,” Hsiao told CBS News on Sunday. “If you have a child who is being bullied at school, you don’t say you don’t go to school. You try to find a way to deal with the bully.”
“The risks are posed by Beijing,” Hsiao said.
On a visit to Myanmar, whose China-backed military government has been accused of assassinating its opponents, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington was “taking the opportunity to increase its military deployment in the region, which deserves great vigilance and a determined boycott from all sides.”
“China’s firm stance” is aimed at “seriously safeguarding the peace across the Taiwan Strait and regional stability,” Wang was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called for a cooling of tensions. “Australia continues to urge restraint, Australia continues to urge de-escalation, and this is not something that only Australia is asking for, and the entire region is concerned about the current situation, the entire region is calling for stability to be restored.” Wong told reporters in Canberra.