Taiwan has called the drills, which will last until Sunday afternoon – and include missile tests and other “military operations” just nine miles off Taiwan’s coastline – a violation of international law. Before the exercise, it reported that 27 Chinese warplanes entered the air defense zone. Pelosi arrived in Taipei on Tuesday night amid intense global scrutiny and was met by Secretary of State Joseph Wu and the US representative to Taiwan, Sandra Woodkirk. He spoke in Taiwan’s parliament on Wednesday before public and private meetings with the president, Tsai Ing-wen. “Our delegation came to Taiwan to make it clear that we will not abandon Taiwan and we are proud of our enduring friendship,” Pelosi said Wednesday when she was presented with Taiwan’s highest political order by Tsai. He said US solidarity with Taiwan was “critical” to countering an increasingly authoritarian China. In a later statement, she said China could not prevent world leaders from traveling to Taiwan “to respect its thriving democracy.” Planned live fire military exercises As Pelosi’s plane took off from Songshan Airport on Wednesday afternoon, Wu waved goodbye from the tarmac. But as the American left, Taiwan faced days of military activity that threatened to escalate into a fourth crisis in the Taiwan Straits. Taiwan’s defense ministry has accused Beijing of planning to violate the international convention on the law of the sea by infringing on Taiwan’s sovereign territory. While China’s military often conducts live-fire drills in the straits and surrounding seas, those planned for this week encircle the main island of Taiwan and target areas within its territorial sea. Veerle Nouwens, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based thinktank, said the location of the six exclusion zones was remarkable. “Specifically, the exclusion zones seem to no longer center on China’s coastline, but rather encircle Taiwan,” he said, adding that China has a different interpretation of what laws apply to its own maritime zones. Taiwanese authorities have said the proximity to some major ports combined with orders for all aircraft and sea vessels to move away from the area amounts to a blockade. China also on Wednesday expanded its trade bans on Taiwan to include additional agricultural products, after banning imports from more than 100 Taiwanese food companies earlier in the week. China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner. Taipei remained defiant in its rhetoric. Tsai said on Wednesday that Taiwan “will not back down” in the face of increased military threats and will “do whatever it takes to maintain Taiwan’s peace and stability.” Beijing said its exercises were “necessary and fair”. Beijing’s latest drills are being closely watched by Taiwan, the US and other regional powers, Nouwens said. “The US will seek out the PLA [People’s Liberation Army’s] use of conventional missiles in their stockpile – eg, will China conduct anti-ship ballistic missile tests or use air-launched and ship-launched ASBM variants? “They will also pay attention to the types of exercises – ie, if, how often and how much the PLA crosses the median line, which they did today … crossing the median line well. “Finally, they will also seek to get a better sense of the PLA’s coordination between air and sea forces, particularly given the various scenarios they have indicated they will exercise for.” Across the region, there is a growing sense of uncertainty, with the exercises also unsettling regional neighbours. Japanese analysts said the drills in the north were also a clear warning to their government about islands claimed by Tokyo and Beijing. “These plans show that the Sakishima islands, including Yonaguni, Ishigaki and Miyako, could be affected by PLA operations as they assume that the PLA is operating in eastern Taiwan,” Tetsuo Kotani, professor of global studies at Meikai University . , he told the Japan Times. China’s ruling Communist Party government, which considers Taiwan its territory even though it has never ruled the island, has repeatedly warned of retaliation for the visit. On Tuesday night, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng “urgently summoned” US Ambassador Nicholas Burns to make stern representations. China’s ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, also warned that “those who play with fire will get burned”. Pelosi’s flight took a non-direct route from Kuala Lumpur, detouring over Indonesia and the Philippines, avoiding the South China Sea, to fly to Taiwan. There were concerns that China might send PLA jets to intercept or shoot down its plane in Taiwanese airspace. There are also fears of escalating cyber warfare and disinformation. At 7-Eleven stores across Taiwan on Wednesday, the message “Warmonger Pelosi Get Out of Taiwan” flashed across store TV screens. According to local reports, some customers thought the message was a statement of the 7-Eleven franchise owner’s views. But Uni-president, the parent company, told local media that it suspected it had been hacked. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Shortly before Pelosi’s arrival, Chinese state media reported that Beijing’s Su-35 fighter jets were flying over the Taiwan Strait. Taipei then dismissed the announcement as “fake news”. Pelosi earlier said China was making a “big fuss” about this visit because of her status as speaker of the US House of Representatives. “I don’t know if that’s a reason or an excuse,” he said, adding: “Whatever China will do, it will do in its own good time.” Additional reporting by Chi Hui Lin
