Taiwan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that China is using military exercises to rehearse an invasion of the self-governing island democracy, while Taiwan’s military conducted its own live show of readiness to thwart a potential attack. Fire practice started.
Joseph Wu said Beijing aims to establish its dominance in the western Pacific and capture Taiwan, which it claims as its territory. This includes controlling the East and South China Seas through the Taiwan Straits and preventing the US and its allies from aiding Taiwan, he told a news conference in Taipei.
China says its practice was prompted by a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week, but Wu said China was using its visit to scare away moves that have long been in the works. Were were
China also banned some Taiwanese food imports after the trip and cut talks with the US on a range of issues from military contacts to tackling international crime and climate change.
The US has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, out of respect for Beijing, but is legally bound to ensure that the island can defend itself and treat all threats against it – including a blockade – serious. Matter of concern. This leaves open the question of whether Washington would send troops if China attacked Taiwan.
President Joe Biden has said repeatedly that the US was obliged to do so, in comments swiftly backed down by his staff.
Wu said the exercise reflects China’s “geo-strategic ambition beyond Taiwan”. “China has no right to interfere with or alter the democratic process of the Taiwanese people or dialogue with other countries,” he said, adding that Taiwan and the mainland are separate jurisdictions “under neither of the other.”
Since Thursday, China has sent military ships and planes across the midline in the Taiwan Strait and launched missiles into the waters around the island.
Ignoring calls to defuse tensions, Beijing has extended those exercises to a blockade, without announcing when they would end. The exercise has disrupted flights and shipping in one of the busiest areas for global trade.
Taiwan has put its forces on alert, but has so far refrained from taking proactive retaliatory measures. On Tuesday, its military conducted live-fire artillery exercises in Pingtung County, on its southeastern coast.
Major General Lu Woi-jae, spokesman for Taiwan’s 8th Army Command, said the army would continue to train and gather strength to deal with threats from China. “No matter what the situation is… this is the best way to defend our country.”
A visitor from the nearby port city of Kaohsiung said the exercise was “necessary to let China know we are ready.” “I hope both sides can exercise restraint,” he said. Fighting war is not good for common people,” said the man, who gave only his surname Chen.
Taiwan, a former Japanese colony with only loose ties to imperial China, split with the mainland in 1949 amid civil war. Despite never ruling the island, China’s ruling Communist Party considers it its territory and has sought to isolate it diplomatically and economically. In addition to intensifying military threats.
Taiwan is an important provider of computer chips to the global economy, including China’s high-tech sectors. An extended crisis in the Taiwan Strait, a major route for global trade, could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world faces disruption and uncertainty.