China begins military drills as Taiwan faces Pelosi visit fallout
Beijing launches its largest manoeuvres aimed at the island state in more than a quarter of a century following senior US politician Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to Taipei.
China's largest-ever military exercises encircling Taiwan have kicked off, in a show of force straddling vital international shipping lanes after a controversial visit to the island state by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The exercises, including those involving live fire, began on Thursday afternoon and will be the biggest aimed at Taiwan since 1995 when China fired missiles in a large-scale exercise to show its displeasure over a visit by then-Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui to the US.
"From 12:00 pm today to 12:00 pm on (August) 7, an important military exercise of the People's Liberation Army is taking place," CCTV reported, in a social media post that included a map of Taiwan.
Nationalist state-run tabloid Global Times said, citing military analysts, that the exercises were "unprecedented" and that missiles would fly over Taiwan for the first time.
"This is the first time the PLA will launch live long-range artillery across" the Taiwan Strait, the newspaper said using the Chinese military's formal name, the People's Liberation Army.
Taiwan's military said its forces were closely monitoring the unprecedented Chinese drills and was prepared for conflict, but would not seek it.
"The Ministry of National Defence stresses that it will uphold the principle of preparing for war without seeking war, and with an attitude of not escalating conflict and causing disputes," Taipei's Defence Ministry said in a statement.
China's Taiwan affairs office said the punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards and external forces was reasonable and lawful. Taiwan is not a "regional" issue but China's internal affair, the Beijing-based Taiwan affairs office added.
The drills come as Group of Seven leaders urged Beijing to show restraint while the ASEAN foreign ministers also warned the situation "could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation and unpredictable consequences among major powers."
The senior US politician left Taiwan on Wednesday morning, having defied a series of increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.
After Pelosi's departure, Taiwan's Defence Ministry announced that 27 Chinese warplanes had entered the island's air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
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Source: TRTWorld
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The exercises, including those involving live fire, began on Thursday afternoon and will be the biggest aimed at Taiwan since 1995 when China fired missiles in a large-scale exercise to show its displeasure over a visit by then-Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui to the US.
ReplyDeleteChina begins military drills as Taiwan faces Pelosi visit fallout
ReplyDeleteBeijing launches its largest manoeuvres aimed at the island state in more than a quarter of a century following senior US politician Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to Taipei.