“Our military issued warnings, deployed combat air patrols and naval vessels, and activated ground-based missile systems in response to the situation,” the ministry said. By 5 p.m. in Taiwan, 14 ships and 20 planes operated by the Chinese military had been spotted around the Strait, according to a ministry statement. Of the 20 aircraft, 14 crossed the median line, he added. The Chinese military has yet to issue a statement on the purpose of Saturday’s drills. The news follows a series of military exercises China has conducted in Taiwan since Thursday, following a controversial visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled democratic island earlier this week. The Chinese Communist Party considers Taiwan its territory, even though it has never controlled it, and has long vowed to “reunify” the island with the Chinese mainland — by force if necessary. Pelosi ignored vehement opposition to her visit by landing in Taipei on Tuesday afternoon as part of a larger tour of Asia that ended Friday with a final stop in Japan. But the full implications of her visit are only now emerging, with China stepping up military exercises in the skies and waters around Taiwan and cutting off cooperation with the US on a range of issues. On Friday, 68 Chinese warplanes were reported in the Taiwan Strait, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry. Of those, 49 entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone — an airspace reserve commonly referred to as the ADIZ. That was just a few planes short of the record set last year, when 56 Chinese warplanes entered the ADIZ on the same day. Nineteen of the warplanes on Friday also crossed the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said. On Thursday, China launched 11 ballistic missiles — some of which flew over the island of Taiwan and landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, prompting Tokyo to file a formal complaint with Beijing. This was the first time China had sent missiles over the island. Also on Thursday, two Chinese drones flew near Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, prompting Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets in response. The drills are scheduled to last until Sunday local time in Beijing, according to Chinese state media.
Diplomatic consequences
The worsening situation in the Taiwan Strait has sparked a diplomatic firestorm, with China lashing out at countries that have criticized its exercises and some regional powers calling for a de-escalation. Tensions rose at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers’ meeting in Cambodia this week, where members were initially expected to discuss three main issues: the Myanmar crisis, the South China Sea and the war in Ukraine. But Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan added “a fourth hot stone … that has led to heated discussions on cross-strait relations,” Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn told a news conference Saturday in Phnom Penh. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken both attended the ASEAN meeting. On Thursday, Wang decried Pelosi’s visit as demonstrating the “bankruptcy” of US policy and credibility, calling it “maniacal, irresponsible and highly irrational behavior”. A day later, after Beijing fired its missiles over Taiwan, Blinken said China “chose to overreact and use President Pelosi’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the straits of Taiwan”. On Saturday, Sokhonn called the meeting lively, saying he should call on all ministers to speak in a calm, dignified, polite, civilized and diplomatic manner. “There were strong arguments, but in our opinion, it is much better to exchange words than less friendly means,” he said. Japan and other G7 economies have urged China to stop its military exercises and maintain the status quo in the region. Beijing did not listen to these pleas. Instead, he responded by canceling future phone calls between Chinese and US defense leaders and annual naval meetings between the two countries. He also canceled scheduled meetings between Chinese and Japanese officials. China has also invited the ambassadors of the US, Japan and various European countries. On Friday, China’s foreign ministry announced a series of countermeasures against the US, including sanctions against Pelosi and her family. China has also suspended bilateral climate talks and suspended cooperation on issues such as the repatriation of illegal immigrants and the investigation of transnational crimes and drug operations. “We should not hold cooperation on issues of global concern hostage because of the differences between our two countries,” Blinken told reporters on Saturday, speaking in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. China’s decision to suspend climate talks “could have lasting consequences for the future of the region, the future of our planet” and would punish the developing world, not the US, he added.
