China says military drills surrounding Taiwan under way
China has said military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments are under way in six zones surrounding Taiwan.
The drills were prompted by a visit to the island by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi this week and are intended to advertise China’s threat to attack the self-governing island republic in response to moves to solidify its de facto independence from Chinese rule with support from key ally the US.
China’s official Xinhua News Agency said the exercises were joint operations focused on “blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control”.
Taiwan has put its military on alert and staged civil defence drills, while the US has numerous naval assets in the area.
The drills are due to run from Thursday to Sunday and include missile strikes on targets in the seas north and south of the island in an echo of the last major Chinese military drills aimed at intimidating Taiwan’s leaders and voters held in 1995 and 1996.
The exercises involved troops from the Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force and Logistic Support Force under the Eastern Theatre Command.
It comes as a group of 10 south-east Asian countries have called for calm in the Taiwan Strait as it urged against any “provocative action” in the wake of a visit to Taipei by Ms Pelosi.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers meeting in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh said they were concerned the situation could “destabilise the region and eventually could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”.
It was a rare such statement from the 10-nation group, some of whose members drift more toward China in allegiance and some toward the United States.
Both US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were taking part in the ongoing Asean meetings in Phnom Penh on Thursday and Friday.
Ms Pelosi received a euphoric welcome as the first US House speaker, and highest ranking US official, to visit Taiwan in more than 25 years, and China swiftly responded by announcing multiple military exercises nearby.
China claims the self-governing island of Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments.
Beijing has accused the US of breaking the status quo with the Pelosi visit, while Washington insists there has been no change to its “one-China” position of recognising the government in Beijing while allowing for informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
Shortly after Pelosi landed Tuesday night, China announced live-fire drills that reportedly started that night, as well as the four-day exercises starting Thursday. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force also flew a contingent of 21 warplanes toward Taiwan.
Meantime, the US has an aircraft carrier group and other naval assets in the region.
In their statement, the Asean foreign ministers called for “maximum restraint” and for all sides to “refrain from provocative action”.
“The world is in dire need of wisdom and responsibility of all leaders to uphold multilateralism and partnership, cooperation, peaceful-coexistence and healthy competition for our shared goals of peace, stability, security and inclusive and sustainable development,” they said.
“We should act together and Asean stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue between all parties including through utilising Asean-led mechanisms to deescalate tension, to safeguard peace, security and development in our region.”
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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