The Chinese army mobilized a historic military exercise in Taiwan. These live-fire exercises will continue until Sunday and represent, according to the island’s Defense Ministry, a “sea and air blockade.” These unprecedented ballistic tests are recognized as A provocative movement and an escalation of tension after the visit of US Congress President Nancy Pelosi.
Taiwan confirmed that China has also sent long-range missiles near the remote northwest islands of Matsu, Dongyin and Wuqu. Its Defense Ministry said it has increased its guards around the islands, which are located close to the Chinese coast from the Taiwan coast. In addition, the island has well-equipped its citizens to conduct exercises in the event of a Chinese attack or the like.
Thus, in response to this escalation of tension, Beijing began live-fire exercises in waters around Taiwan around 12:00 this Thursday (6:00 a.m. in mainland Spain), it has been cited. Country.
Also by sea. Bloomberg reports that the Asian giant’s military deployment is keeping Taiwan’s defense minister on “high alert,” which he criticized as an attempt to weaken stability. Flights can use alternate air routes through Japan and the Philippines until the end of exercises on Sunday, while ships can avoid the six exclusion zones that roughly surround the island from the north, south and east, Transportation Minister Wang Kuo-tsai said.
“irrational activities”
Taiwan’s presidential office issued a statement late Thursday saying that President Tsai Ing-wen is aware of the situation and demanded China “seriously” to act rationally. The statement said Taipei is working with like-minded countries in the region to provide an appropriate response.
In this regard, the Taiwan authorities denounced China’s “irrational activities”, amid giant Asian military exercises near the island, and stressed that it “does not give up” on issues related to its sovereignty.
“The Taiwan armed forces are operating as usual and monitoring our surroundings in response to China’s irrational activities that seek to change the ‘status quo’ and destabilize the security of the region,” the Taiwan Defense Ministry said.
“We do not seek to increase tensions, but we do not give up when it comes to our security and sovereignty,” he added on his Twitter account.
He also reiterated that the Chinese army fired “several Tongfeng guided missiles into the waters in the northeast and southwest of the island on Thursday afternoon, DPA reported.”
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the shots were detected at 1:56 pm (local time) and confirmed the activation of the defense systems, denouncing “this irrational act that undermines peace in the region.”
The controversial visit
Hours earlier, the Taiwan Air Force Command had denounced the 27 Chinese military aircraft invading its airspace on Wednesday as part of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.
Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night as part of A visit that takes less than 24 hours But this sparked controversy and severe criticism from the Chinese government, which considers the island as another province under its sovereignty.
Along the same lines, the G7 (the seven major economies) and the European Union condemned the maneuvers in a joint statement, noting that “There is no justification for using the visit as a pretext for aggressive military activityThe head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, retweeted the same quote in a tweet expressing the “concern” of the EU and G7.
chinese president, Xi Jinping is under pressure to give a strong response to the tripEspecially after some local nationalists were disappointed that Beijing was unable to dissuade Pelosi from visiting. On the other hand, the foreign ministers of Southeast Asian countries called for “maximum restraint.”
