Missiles cross Taiwan in latest drill, Chinese media report
We have a little more detail on the Chinese missiles that reportedly flew over Taiwan during Beijing’s latest military drills on Friday.
Meng Xiangqing, a professor at China’s military-affiliated National Defence University, spoke with state broadcaster CCTV, lauding the accuracy of Beijing’s capabilities.
Our exercises this time included live-firing tests, and it was the first time they crossed Taiwan island.”
He added that they passed through an airspace where Patriot missiles – a highly mobile surface-to-air missile system that would be a crucial defence against Chinese warplanes – are densely deployed.
The latest drills also represented the PLA’s closest-ever exercises to the island, its first encirclement and the first time it set up a shooting range east of Taiwan, Meng said.
China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that the military “flew more than 100 warplanes including fighters and bombers” during the exercises, as well as “over 10 destroyers and frigates.”
The Chinese exercises involve troops from the navy, air force, rocket force, strategic support force and logistic support force, according to Xinhua.
The median line is an unofficial but once largely adhered-to border that runs down the middle of the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and China.
Key events
Taiwan claims 68 Chinese planes and 13 warships conducting missions in Taiwan Strait
Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Friday a total of 68 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were conducting missions in the sensitive Taiwan Strait and some of them have “deliberately” crossed an unofficial buffer separating the two sides known as the median line.
Reuters reports the ministry condemned China in a statement, saying its armed forces have “seriously damaged” the status quo and “harassed” Taiwan’s water and air space.
China halts ties with US on range of critical issues including climate crisis
Vincent Ni
China has halted ties with the US on a range of critical issues, from talks on the climate crisis to dialogue between their militaries, following the visit to Taiwan by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
The announcement of the counter-measures came as Beijing conducted military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan. Earlier, China announced sanctions against Pelosi and her direct family members. Beijing called Pelosi’s visit “vicious and provocative actions”.
The cancelled interactions ranged from climate talks, to dialogues between the leaders of Chinese and US military theatres, to the working meeting of Chinese and US defence ministries and consultation mechanism on maritime military safety between the countries.
Tensions are running high in the Taiwan strait. The military drills have forced a number of vessels to reroute their journeys, causing disruptions to regional – and global – economies. On average, 240 commercial ships have passed through the maritime zones each day over the past week, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data.
Earlier, the US condemned China’s launch of ballistic missiles around Taiwan during live-fire exercises as an “overreaction”, as a number of Chinese ships and planes again crossed the median line.
Read more of Vincent Ni’s report: China halts US cooperation after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
Reuters is carrying a report that suggests that tensions at the gathering of foreign ministers hosted by south-east Asia’s regional bloc Asean have continued. As well as the member states, counterparts from the US, China, Russia, Japan and Australia have all been there.
It appears that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of a session today when their Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi spoke, according to what a person who was in the room has said to the news agency.
Wang had cancelled a meeting with Japan’s representative in Cambodia a day earlier, with China citing displeasure over a G7 statement urging it to resolve tension over Taiwan peacefully.
As well as earlier announcing that it would impose sanctions on US House speaker Nancy Pelosi following her visit to Taiwan, China’s foreign ministry is announcing the withdrawal of joint cooperation with the US on a range of issues.
Reuters reports it has listed climate talks between the US and China, dialogue between US and China military leaders, cross-border cooperation on crime, maritime safety mechanisms and relationships on immigration and anti-drug policies as areas of activity that will cease.
More details soon …
Reuters reports that the official Weibo account of the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has stated that China’s military conducted air and sea combat drills to the north, south-west and east of Taiwan, and continues “to test the troops’ joint combat capabilities”.
China has said that it summoned Canada’s ambassador over the country’s participation in a statement issued by the foreign ministers of the G7 nations.
Reuters reports that in a statement from China’s foreign ministry today, it says Jim Nickel was summoned on Thursday by Chinese vice foreign minister Xie Feng who informed him Canada should “immediately correct its mistakes” on the issue of Taiwan or “bear all consequences”.
US summons Chinese ambassador to White House for rebuke
The Washington Post is reporting that China’s ambassador to the US has been summoned to the White House.
“After China’s actions overnight, we summoned Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche him about the PRC’s provocative actions,” White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement provided to the Washington Post.
“We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” A démarche is a protest lodged through diplomatic channels.
Yesterday, the Washington Post carried an op-ed piece written by the ambassador, in which he put China’s point of view over the escalating dispute. In the article, titled Why China objects to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Qin Gang wrote:
Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China’s territory for 1,800 years.
When China and the United States established diplomatic relations on 1 January 1979, the United States recognised in the joint communique with China that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government of China. Four decades have passed since, and the United States has long been committed to not developing official relations with Taiwan.
By order of succession, House speaker Nancy Pelosi is the third-highest-ranking official in the US government. Traveling in a military aircraft, Pelosi paid a high-profile “official visit to Taiwan” this week, as her office described it in her arrival statement, and was given full-protocol treatment by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive party authorities, who make no secret of pursuing independence in their party platform. Such a visit has openly broken America’s commitment not to develop official relations with Taiwan.
That position is disputed. Yesterday Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that China has no reason to overreact, as “the US and other Nato allies have paid visits with high-ranking officials to Taiwan regularly over the years”.
Here are some of the latest images we have received from China and Taiwan over the newswires.
Here is the video clip where Taiwan’s president says her country will not provoke conflicts but will firmly defend its sovereignty and national security.
Tsai Ing-wen delivered the video message in response to China’s exercises. In it she says: “We are calm and not impetuous, we are rational and not provocative, but we will also be firm and not shirk. Taiwan will never be knocked down by challenges.”
China announces sanctions against Pelosi over Taiwan visit
Helen Davidson
China’s government has announced sanctions against Nancy Pelosi and her direct relatives in response to “vicious and provocative actions” by going to Taiwan, state media has said.
According to CGTN, Pelosi …
… insisted on going to Taiwan in disregard of China’s serious concerns and firm opposition, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs, seriously undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously trampling on the one-China principle, and seriously threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan strait. In response to Pelosi’s vicious and provocative actions, China has decided to impose sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family in accordance with the relevant laws of the People’s Republic of China.
China has not yet specified the sanctions in public.
Australia’s foreign secretary Penny Wong has described China’s actions as “disproportionate and destabilising”. In a tweet she said:
The launch of ballistic missiles by China into waters around Taiwan’s coastline is disproportionate and destabilising. I have expressed Australia’s concerns to my Chinese and other regional counterparts at the East Asia Summit today.
Australia’s foreign ministry has issued a full statement, which additionally says:
This is a serious matter for the region, including for our close strategic partner, Japan.
Australia shares the region’s concerns about this escalating military activity, especially the risks of miscalculation. We urge restraint and de-escalation.
It is in all our interests to have a region at peace and not in conflict. Australia does not want to see any unilateral change to the status quo across the Taiwan strait. There is no change to Australia’s bipartisan one-China policy.
Japanese officials’ recent statements on the tensions in the Taiwan Strait were an attempt to justify the “wrongdoers”, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying has said during a regular briefing.
Reuters reports that the harsh words come after a planned bilateral meeting between China’s foreign minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of Asean events in Cambodia were cancelled.
Tokyo protested to Beijing yesterday after Japan said five of the missiles China fired in its military exercises on Thursday landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Blinken: ‘no possible justification’ for China’s actions
US secretary of state Antony Blinken has warned again that China’s “provocative” actions risk a serious escalation and could destabilise the region.
Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Asean regional forum meeting, Blinken told the media that the US has repeatedly told China that it did not seek a crisis. Blinken said that Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was peaceful, and that “there was no possible justification for what they have done” in response.
The secretary of state said that the US would stick by its allies in the region.
He also said that the US would not be provoked by China’s actions, and that US forces would fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. He vowed that the US would continue to make maritime transits of the Taiwan strait, and also said that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan would stay in the area.
A source in Taiwan has given an anonymous briefing to Reuters, which reports that “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.”
As yet there has been no official confirmation from the Taiwan ministry of defence on the number of incursions.
Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida has called for the “immediate cancellation” of China’s military exercises aimed at the Taiwan strait.
Speaking to the media after meeting with US politician Nancy Pelosi in Tokyo, Kishida said that he told her “we have called for the immediate cancellation of the military drills”, which he described as a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens”.
Reuters quotes US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, who was with Pelosi earlier, as saying “It is clear that the US-Japan alliance will stand strong, shoulder-to-shoulder, to defend our interests and our values.”
In a news conference after meeting Kishida, Pelosi told reporters:
We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region. The Chinese government is not pleased that our friendship with Taiwan is a strong one. It is bipartisan in the House and in the Senate, overwhelming support for peace and the status quo in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s ministry of defence has posted to social media to say: “We seek no escalation, nor do antagonise others.”
It confirms that it has used alert broadcasts, aircraft, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in its response after “multiple PLA aircraft and vessels were detected participating in drills around Taiwan strait”.
Multiple PLA aircraft and vessels were detected participating in drills around Taiwan Strait and have crossed the median line. #ROCArmedForces have utilized alert broadcast, aircraft in CAP, patrolling naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in response to this situation. pic.twitter.com/lVpRWCZxhm
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) August 5, 2022
On the Chinese coast across from Taiwan, tourists gathered on Friday to try to catch a glimpse of any military aircraft heading toward the “military 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.
Taiwan’s President has issued a statement of reassurance, maintaining the island’s military is “ready to respond as necessary”.
Tsai Ing-wen made the statement over her official Twitter page just after 1pm.
Our government and military are closely monitoring China’s military exercises and information warfare operations, ready to respond as necessary.
I call on the international community to support democratic Taiwan and halt any escalation of the regional security situation.”
Our government & military are closely monitoring China’s military exercises & information warfare operations, ready to respond as necessary. I call on the international community to support democratic Taiwan & halt any escalation of the regional security situation. pic.twitter.com/uAoDAU2bMV
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) August 5, 2022
