TAIPEI, Aug 8 (Reuters) – China’s military announced new military exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan on Monday, a day after the scheduled end of its largest-ever drills to protest the visit of last week in Taipei from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
China’s Eastern Theater Command said it will conduct joint exercises focusing on anti-submarine and maritime assault operations, confirming fears by some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing will continue to keep pressure on Taiwan’s defenses.
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week angered China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own and responded with ballistic missile test launches over Taipei for the first time, as well as abandoning some lines of dialogue with Washington .
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The exact location and duration of the latest drills is not yet known, but Taiwan has already eased flight restrictions near the six previous Chinese exercise areas surrounding the island.
Shortly before the latest drills were announced, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, visiting St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and told him she was moved by his determination to visit despite military pressure from China. Read more
“Prime Minister Gonsalves has expressed in recent days that Chinese military exercises would not prevent him from visiting friends in Taiwan. These statements have touched us deeply,” Tsai said at a welcoming ceremony for Gonsalves in Taipei.
It was unclear whether Tsai had invited Gonsalves before or after Pelosi’s visit. “We do not disclose internal planning or communications between governments,” Taiwan’s foreign ministry said when asked by Reuters.
Beyond the launch of 11 short-range ballistic missiles during the previous four days of exercises, Chinese warships, fighter jets and drones maneuvered widely around the island.
Shortly before those exercises ended on Sunday, about 10 warships from China and Taiwan maneuvered near the unofficial median line of the Taiwan Strait, according to a person familiar with the situation who is involved in planning the security
THE MILITARY TALK ARRESTED
Taiwan’s defense ministry said Chinese military ships, planes and drones had simulated attacks on the island and its navy. He said he had sent planes and ships to react “appropriately”.
Meanwhile, China’s defense ministry kept up its diplomatic pressure on the United States, defending its cession of military-to-military talks in protest of Pelosi’s visit.
“The current situation of tension in the Taiwan Strait is entirely provoked and created by the US side on its own initiative, and the US side must bear full responsibility and the serious consequences of this,” he said. Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in an online post.
“The end result cannot be broken, and communication requires sincerity,” Wu said.
China suspended formal talks involving theater-level commands, defense policy coordination and military maritime consultations on Friday when Pelosi left the region.
Pentagon, State Department and White House officials condemned the move, describing it as an irresponsible overreaction.
China’s severance of some of its few communications links with the US military raises the risk of an accidental escalation over Taiwan at a critical time, security analysts and diplomats say. Read more
A US official noted that Chinese officials had not returned calls from senior Pentagon officials amid the tensions last week, but that they did not see this as a formal severance of ties with key figures, such as Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin.
Asked directly about these reports, Defense Ministry spokesman Wu said: “China’s relevant countermeasures are a necessary warning against provocations by the United States and Taiwan, and a legitimate defense of national sovereignty and security.” .
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Reporting by Beijing Newsroom and Sarah Wu in Taipei; written by Greg Torode. Editing by Gerry Doyle and Raju Gopalakrishnan
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