Joseph Wu, speaking at a news conference in Taipei, offered no timetable for a possible invasion of Taiwan, which China claims as its own. He said Taiwan would not be intimidated even as the drills continue with China frequently violating the unofficial median line down the Taiwan Strait. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “China used the drills in its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said. “It is conducting large-scale military drills and missile launches, as well as cyber attacks, disinformation and financial coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan. “After the exercises are completed, China may try to routine its action in an attempt to destroy the long-term status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said. Such moves threatened regional security and provided “a clear picture of China’s geostrategic ambitions beyond Taiwan,” Wu said, urging greater international support to stop China from effectively controlling the strait. A Pentagon official said Monday that Washington stands by its assessment that China will not try to invade Taiwan for the next two years. read more Wu spoke as military tensions simmered after the scheduled end on Sunday of four days of China’s biggest island-wide drills – drills that included ballistic missile launches and simulated naval and air strikes in the skies and seas surrounding Taiwan. China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday that it will hold new joint exercises focusing on anti-submarine warfare and maritime operations – confirming fears by some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing will keep up the pressure on Taiwan’s defenses. A person familiar with security planning in the areas around Taiwan described to Reuters on Tuesday an ongoing “standoff” around the median line involving about 10 warships each from China and Taiwan. “China has continued to try to push down the middle line,” the person said. “Taiwanese forces there are trying to keep international waterways open.” As Pelosi left the region last Friday, China also cut some lines of communication with the United States, including theater-level military talks and climate change talks. Taiwan began its own long-term drills on Tuesday, firing artillery shells into the sea in the southern county of Pingtung. US President Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the issue since Pelosi’s visit, said on Monday that he was concerned about China’s actions in the region but not worried about Taiwan. read more “I’m concerned that they’re moving no matter what,” Biden told reporters in Delaware, referring to China. “But I don’t think they’re going to do more than what they are.” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kall also said the US military would continue to make trips through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks. China has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force, and on Monday Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China was conducting regular military exercises “in our waters” in an open, transparent and professional manner, adding that Taiwan it was part of China. Taiwan rejects China’s claims of sovereignty, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Sarah Wu and Yimou Lee in Taipei. Writing by Greg Torode, Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
