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Australia

China labeled Australia’s biggest national security threat on Q+A as tough talk on Taiwan draws passionate response

China labeled Australia's biggest national security threat on Q+A as tough talk on Taiwan draws passionate response

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been labeled the biggest threat to Australia’s national security on Q+A, with panellists from both the government and opposition sharing their concerns about China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait and subsequent comments by the Chinese ambassador to Australia.

In the past week, China has conducted military drills in the Taiwan Strait, repeatedly crossing its median line by air and sea and launching missiles that went over Taiwan and landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Those actions came after the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan, which China claims to be a state within its territory.

On Thursday night, Q+A audience member Li Shee Shu suggested to the panel that China should not be seen as Australia’s greatest threat.

Liberal Senator James Paterson pounced.

“The reason why the Chinese Communist Party is labeled as the biggest national security threat to Australia is because they are,” Senator Paterson said.

“Right now, today, we are under a near-constant attack in the cyber realm from the Chinese Communist Party, whether it is the government or our critical infrastructure.

“Over the past five years, we have suffered record levels of foreign interference and espionage and the Chinese government is the primary culprit of that.

“Right now, the Chinese government is acquiring military capability at the fastest pace of any nation in the world since World War II and, I think, the evidence shows they’re not just doing that for the fun of it.

“They have reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, illegally, although Xi Jinping promised that he wouldn’t.

“They have just fired ballistic missiles over Taiwan into Japan’s EEZ. If we are not going to take this threat very seriously, we are going to regret it.”

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His comments were echoed by Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy, who took a softer stance but said China’s actions in recent times were a cause for concern.

“The Australian government’s position is that we support no unilateral change to the status quo,” Mr Conroy said.

“As a middle power, it’s in Australia’s interest to pursue a rules-based order where every nation observes and follows international laws and normals,” he said.

“And to James’s point, illegal island-building in the East and South China Seas challenges that rules-based order.”

CCP has repeatedly shown us who they are, Paterson says

Mr Conroy, who earlier called for a de-escalation of tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, said he was concerned by the Chinese ambassador’s comments about Taiwan on Wednesday.

The ambassador, Xiao Qian, stressed at the National Press Club that there was “no room for compromise” on Taiwan and China would use “all necessary means” for reunification with the island.

“In the interests of everyone in the region, de-escalation needs to occur now,” Mr Conroy said.

“We need restraint and we need to focus on a peaceful and prosperous region.

“I was concerned, like many people, by some of the language used by the ambassador [on Wednesday]but we just have to move past it.”

However, for Senator Paterson, those comments seemed to be folly.

He indicated he did not believe China’s actions in the past week were simply muscle flexing ahead of the CCP’s 20th annual party congress, but rather part of a long-established pattern.

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“The late American poet Maya Angelou had a wonderful phrase that when people show you who they are, believe them the first time,” he said.

“The Chinese Communist Party has not just shown us once who they are, they’ve shown us who they are in Tibet, they’ve shown us who they are in Xinjiang, they’ve shown us who they are with Hong Kong and they are showing us again who they are with Taiwan.

“And the ambassador at the Press Club yesterday showed us who they are and we should believe him.

“They are very serious when they say all options are on the table and that we should use our imagination to think about what they might do.

“And we should believe them when they say that re-education of the 23 million free people of Taiwan is something that they have planned for, after taking Taiwan, and we should treat that very seriously.”

Chinese Australian population stigmatized

Q+A audience member, teenager Jun Gao, said raised concerns about how Beijing’s actions were affecting the treatment of Chinese Australians.

He said he and others had faced discrimination during the pandemic and it was happening again now due to rising tensions with China.

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“I’ve felt the effects of the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic and now rising tensions within the South China Sea,” he said.

“What can be done to destigmatize the Chinese Australian population?”

“In general, I feel there is about negative perception, both in the schoolyard and [the] media, and I fear that Chinese recent political actions will only compound this,” Gao added.

Panel member and Lowy Institute research fellow Jennifer Hsu said studies had seen a rise in that sentiment.

“We found in this year’s survey that generally Chinese Australians feel a sense of belonging, although that has decreased since 2020,” Ms Hsu said.

“[There is] a general sense of belonging, pride in Australian life and culture — and I think these are all positive indicators of, you know, Chinese-Australians’ contribution and integration into Australian society … but, yes, I would agree with you that, over the last two years… the sense of fragmentation has happened, in part due to discrimination and racism.

“But I would say there [are] potential positive points to look forward to, with a new government in power. there [are] signs of thawing [relations] between Australia and China.”

Senator Paterson condemned the discrimination Gao’s had faced and called for Australians to understand the difference between a political stoush with the CCP and anything to do with Australians of Chinese heritage.

“Thank you for raising this issue, you are absolutely right to,” he told Gao.

“It is both morally wrong and counterproductive for Chinese Australians to be held guilty for the actions of the Chinese government.

“It is also wrong to hold the Chinese people guilty for the actions of the Chinese government because they had no say in picking that government, there was no vote that brought the Chinese Communist Party to power.

“It is morally wrong because it is not your fault and it is counterproductive because we want Chinese Australians to feel just as much a part of the Australian community as everyone else and to be able to fully participate in that community.”

Watch the full episode of Q+A on ABC iview

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US

China’s trade curbs on Taiwan after Pelosi visit are drop in the ocean

China's trade curbs on Taiwan after Pelosi visit are drop in the ocean

Beijing’s new trade blocks against Taiwan affect about 0.04% of their two-way trade, making them more political than economic.

Beijing took action against Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island earlier this month despite warnings from Beijing. That included suspensions of imports of Taiwanese citrus, frozen fish, sweets and biscuits and exports of natural sands to Taiwan.

Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and a breakaway province. China says Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations and warned for weeks against Pelosi’s visit.

What trade numbers show

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, after arriving at the president’s office on August 3, 2022, in Taipei, Taiwan. Pelosi’s visit infuriated China, which regards the self-ruled island as its own and responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over Taipei for the first time, as well as ditching some lines of dialogue with Washington.

Handout | Getty ImagesNews | Getty Images

When it comes to Taiwan’s imports from mainland China, more than half of the $82 billion traded in 2021 were electrical machinery, electronic and technological parts as well as nuclear reactors and boilers.

As for Taiwan’s exports to China, 65% of them were also similar goods in electrical machinery, electronic and technological parts.

Drop in the ocean

On the other hand, the volume of trade in areas that Beijing has targeted is relatively small.

Exports of natural sand to Taiwan — which Beijing has targeted — were a drop in the ocean against the above figures. They amounted to about $3.5 million last year, data from the Taiwanese trade bureau showed.

They were also a small trade compared with natural sand exports from Australia and Vietnam, the biggest suppliers of natural sand to Taiwan last year. Together, they supplied about $64 million of the raw material used in construction and other industries, making up 70% of Taiwan’s purchases, according to its trade bureau.

Similarly, the targeted trade of citrus was valued at a relatively small $10 million last year, though mainland China was also Taiwan’s biggest citrus buyer, Taiwan’s trade data showed.

The agricultural products now in the headlines are only a fraction of Taiwan’s export basket. And so the headline impact on Taiwan won’t really be noticeable.

Nick Brown

Economist Intelligence Unit

Other targets such as Taiwan’s exports of bread, pastry, cakes and biscuits to mainland China were worth more than $50 million in total last year.

Beijing’s specific suspension of two kinds of frozen fishes, horse mackerel and largehead hairtail, were valued at over $3 million in 2021, according to Taiwan’s trade bureau.

“China’s economic retaliation against Taiwan is a long-standing strategy in its diplomatic playbook. That said, its decision to target relatively low-value trade items reflects the limits of its economic pressure toolbox,” said global trade lead analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit , Nick Marro.

“It’s already had restrictions on Chinese visitors to Taiwan in place for a few years, which carry more economic significance; the agricultural products now in the headlines are only a fraction of Taiwan’s export basket. And so the headline impact on Taiwan won’t really be noticeable.”

Precedents

Beijing’s trade suspensions against Taiwan are not a new phenomenon.

In previous years, tensions between the two have led to bans on mainland travelers to Taiwan.

Last year, China suspended imports of Taiwanese pineapples, citing quarantine measures over “harmful creatures” that came with the fruit. China was Taiwan’s biggest pineapple buyer up to that point.

Investment bank Natixis said that the recent Chinese trade restrictions focused on “highly replaceable food products” but not the information and communications technology sector in which the two trading partners have the most trade.

The bank also said mainland China will continue to import from Taiwan as long as it needs the goods, similar to what it has done in other trade conflicts such as the one it has with Australia and the United States.

In the China-Australia trade dispute that started in 2020, China restricted the purchase of some goods such as barley and coal but continued to buy iron ore from Australia, a key ingredient for China’s steel production and the bedrock of the countries’ trade.

There may also be other fallouts from the Pelosi visit that could hurt wider regional trade. For example, heightened military drills in the Taiwan Strait may delay shipments, analysts say.

“The shutting down of these transport routes — even temporarily — has consequences not only for Taiwan, but also trade flows tied to Japan and South Korea,” Marro said.

“It’s not just a story for Taiwan and China, but also for their neighbors, as well.”

Analysis by logistics platform Container xChange said any rerouting of shipping lines to avoid military exercises may be problematic for the trading world as it enters peak shipping season.

Container xChange Chief Executive Christian Roeloffs said, however, that supply chains have become far more resilient over the course of the pandemic.

Customer feedback shows any rerouting of vessels away from the Taiwan Strait will add a few days to ship voyages, though Roeloffs does not anticipate a massive hit to logistics costs.

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Australia

China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian warns Beijing will use any means necessary for Taiwan ‘reunification’

China's Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian in a suit and glasses.

China’s ambassador to Australia has stressed there will be no compromise on Taiwan, saying Beijing has been “waiting for a peaceful reunification” but will not rule out using other means if necessary.

“As to what does it mean ‘all necessary means?’ You can use your imagination,” Xiao Qian said.

Addressing the National Press Club as China’s historic military drills in the Taiwan Strait entered a sixth day, Mr Xiao would not predict how long the exercises would continue.

“If every country put their ‘One China’ policy into practice with sincerity, with no compromise, it is going to guarantee the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

“There’s no room for compromise. How long it’s going to last, a proper time? I think there will be an announcement.”

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Australia

China’s constant criticism amid Taiwan tensions cannot be avoided, acting PM says

A sad man in a suit walks down a hall

The acting Prime Minister insists there is little the federal government can do to ward off constant Chinese criticism of Australia, as Beijing lashes out against international condemnation of its military drills in the Taiwan Strait.

Australia has joined with other nations to condemn Beijing’s decision to extend military drills around Taiwan, triggered by a visit to the island from United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Chinese officials said condemnation by Australia was undermining regional peace and stability, and amounted to meddling in its affairs.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles dismissed that accusation and said it was up to China whether relations with Australia thawed or deteriorated again.

“If engaging in a more respectful, diplomatic way takes us some way down a path, it does — and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Mr Marles said.

“We can only control our end of this equation. But we will always be speaking up for the national interest.”

Taiwan has been preparing air raid shelters and conducting drills as Chinese military air and naval combat exercises have increased around the island.

Taiwan thanks ‘courageous’ nations stepping up to China

In a briefing to media yesterday, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, expressed his gratitude to the nations that had supported his country.

“Taiwan is grateful to all of its friends around the world who have stood up courageously to condemn China’s actions and to support Taiwan,” Mr Wu said.

“It also sends a clear message to the world that democracy will not bow to the intimidation of authoritarianism.”

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US

Taiwan warns China drills show ambitions beyond island

Taiwan warns China drills show ambitions beyond island

PINGTUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan warned Tuesday that Chinese military drills aren’t just a rehearsal for an invasion of the self-governing island but also reflect ambitions to control large swaths of the western Pacific, as Taipei conducted its own exercises to underscore it’s ready to defend itself.

Angered by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, China has sent military ships and plans across the midline that separates the two sides in the Taiwan Strait and launched missiles into waters surrounding the island. The drills, which began Thursday, have disrupted flights and shipping in one of the busiest zones for global trade.

Ignoring calls to calm tensions, Beijing instead extended the exercises without announcing when they will end.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that beyond aiming to annex the island democracy, which split with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, China wants to establish its dominance in the western Pacific. That would include controlling of the East and South China Seas via the Taiwan Strait and imposing a blockade to prevent the US and its allies from aiding Taiwan in the event of an attack, he told a news conference in Taipei.

The exercises show China’s “geostrategic ambition beyond Taiwan,” which Beijing claims as its own territory, Wu said.

“China has no right to interfere in or alter” Taiwan’s democracy or its interactions with other nations, he added.

Wu’s assessment of China’s maneuvers was grimmer than that of other observers but echoed widespread concerns that Beijing is seeking to expand its influence in the Pacific, where the US has military bases and extensive treaty partnerships.

China has said its drills were prompted by Pelosi’s visit, but Wu said Beijing was using her trip as a pretext for intimidating moves long in the works. China also banned some Taiwanese food imports after the visit and cut off dialogue with the US on a range of issues from military contacts to combating transnational crime and climate change.

Pelosi also dismissed China’s outrage as a public stunt, noting on NBC’s “Today” show that “nobody said a word” about a Senate delegation a few visit months ago. Later on the MSNBC news network, she said Chinese President Xi Jinping was acting like a “scared bully.”

“I don’t think the president of China should control the schedules of members of Congress,” she said.

Through its maneuvers, China has pushed closer to Taiwan’s borders and may be seeking to establish a new normal in which it could eventually control access to the island’s ports and airspace. But that would likely elicit a strong response from the military on the island, whose people strongly favor the status quo of de-facto independence.

The US, Taipei’s main backer, has also shown itself to be willing to face down Beijing’s threats. Washington has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in deference to Beijing, but is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats against it as matters of grave concern.

That leaves open the question of whether Washington would dispatch forces if China attacked Taiwan. US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the US is bound to do so — but staff members have quickly walked back those comments.

Beyond the geopolitical risks, an extended crisis in the Taiwan Strait, a significant thoroughfare for global trade, could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruptions and uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In particular, Taiwan is a crucial provider of computer chips for the global economy, including China’s high-tech sectors.

In response to the drills, Taiwan has put its forces on alert, but has so far refrained from taking active counter measures.

On Tuesday, its military held live-fire artillery drills in Pingtung County on its southeastern coast.

The army will continue to train and accumulate strength to deal with the threat from China, said Maj. Gen. Lou Woei-jye, spokesperson for Taiwan’s 8th Army Command. “No matter what the situation is… this is the best way to defend our country.”

Taiwan, once a Japanese colony, had only loose connections to imperial China and then split with the mainland in 1949. Despite never having governed the island, China’s ruling Communist Party regards it as its own territory and has sought to isolate it diplomatically and economically in addition to ratcheting up military threats.

Washington has insisted Pelosi’s visit did not change its “one China policy,” which holds that the United States has no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute settled peacefully.

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Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil in Washington contributed to this report.

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US

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images

Taiwan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that China was using the military drills it launched in protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit as a game-plan to prepare for an invasion of the
self-ruled island.

Joseph Wu, speaking at a press conference in Taipei, offered no timetable for a possible invasion of Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own.

He said Taiwan would not be intimidated even as the drills continued with China often breaching the unofficial median line down the Taiwan Strait.

“China has used the drills in its military play-book to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said.

“It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.

“After the drills conclude, China may try to routinize its action in an attempt to wreck the long-term status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.

Such moves threatened regional security and provided “a clear image of China’s geostrategic ambitions beyond Taiwan”, Wu said, urging greater international support to stop China effectively controlling the strait.

A Pentagon official said on Monday that Washington was sticking to its assessment that China would not try to invade Taiwan for the next two years.

Wu spoke as military tensions simmer after the scheduled end on Sunday of four days of the largest-ever Chinese exercises surrounding the island – drills that included ballistic missile launches and simulated sea and air attacks in the skies and seas surrounding Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday that it would conduct fresh joint drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations – confirming the fears of some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would keep up the pressure on Taiwan’s defences.

On Tuesday, the command said it continued to hold military drills and exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, with a focus on blockades and resupply logistics.

A person familiar with security planning in the areas around Taiwan described to Reuters on Tuesday a continuing “standoff” around the median line involving about 10 warships each from China and Taiwan.

“China continued to try to press in to the median line,” the person said.

“Taiwan forces there have been trying to keep the international waterways open.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that China’s continued military exercises “highlight that its threat of force has not decreased.”

As Pelosi left the region last Friday, China also ditched some lines of communication with the United States, including theater level military talks and discussions on climate change.

Taiwan started its own long-scheduled drills on Tuesday, firing howitzer artillery out to sea in the southern county of Pingtung, attracting a small crowd of curious onlookers to a nearby beach.

US President Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the issue since Pelosi’s visit, said on Monday he was concerned about China’s actions in the region but he was not worried about Taiwan.

“I’m concerned they are moving as much as they are,” Biden told reporters in Delaware, referring to China. “But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said the US military would continue to carry out voyages 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 that China was conducting normal military exercises “in our waters” in an open, transparent and professional way, adding Taiwan was part of China.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

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US

Biden says he’s ‘not worried’ about China’s increased aggression toward Taiwan following Pelosi visit

Biden says he's 'not worried' about China's increased aggression toward Taiwan following Pelosi visit

US President Joe Biden talks to reporters while boarding Air Force One on travel to Eastern Kentucky to visit families affected by devastation from recent flooding, as he departs from Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, US, August 8, 2022.

Kevin Lamarques | Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday he is “not worried” about China’s military exercises around Taiwan, adding that while he is “concerned that they’re moving as much as they are,” he does not think they’re going to continue to increase the pressure.

The remarks came one day after Beijing concluded 72 hours of intense maneuvers and missile tests over and around Taiwan. The exercises involved dozens of Chinese fighter jets and warships to mimic a military blockade of the self-governing island that Beijing considers a province.

Biden’s relative calm reflected the deliberate American strategy of not responding to Chinese bellicosity with equally hot saber-rattling.

It also reflects a broader opinion within the Biden administration that Beijing does not intend to make good on its implicit threat to invade Taiwan, at least not in the near term.

Given this assessment, the United States has adopted an approach, for now, of heightened vigilance, but steadfastly refused to be drawn into a military game of chicken in the Pacific.

Last Thursday, the White House announced that Biden would keep a US naval aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea longer than originally planned, in response to Beijing’s increased aggression toward Taiwan.

At the same time, a Biden spokesman said the United States would postpone a previously scheduled intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, test.

The decisions signaled Washington’s desire to maintain American military alertness in the region, while also denying Beijing the opportunity to point to the long-planned US missile test as evidence that America was responding to China’s own missile launches near Taiwan with military preparations of its own.

Beijing claimed its military exercises were conducted in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.

The visit by the California Democrat, which the Biden White House publicly defended but privately opposed, marked the first time in 25 years that an American House speaker, a position second in line to the presidency, had visited Taiwan.

Asked Monday whether it was wise for Pelosi to have traveled to Taiwan given the tense US-China relationship, Biden gave the standard response his administration has used for weeks.

“That was her decision,” he said, before boarding Air Force One en route to Kentucky, where Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit communities impacted by catastrophic flooding last week.

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US

China extends threatening military exercises around Taiwan

China extends threatening military exercises around Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — China said Monday it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to global trade.

The announcement increases uncertainty in the crisis that developed last week with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

The exercises will include anti-submarine drills, apparently targeting US support for Taiwan in the event of a potential Chinese invasion, according to social media posts from the eastern leadership of China’s ruling Communist Party’s military arm, the People’s Liberation Army.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory and its leader, Xi Jinping, has focused on bringing the self-governing island democracy under the mainland’s control, by force if necessary. The two sides split in 1949 after a civil war, but Beijing considers visits to Taiwan by foreign officials as recognizing its sovereignty.

Xi is seeking a third term as Communist Party leader later this year. His control of him over the armed forces and what he has defined as China’s “core interests” — including Taiwan, territorial claims in the South China Sea and historic adversary Japan — are key to maintaining his nationalist credentials of him.

The military has said the exercises, involving missile strikes, warplanes and ship movements crossing the midline of the Taiwan Strait dividing the sides, were a response to Pelosi’s visit.

China has ignored calls to calm the tensions, and there was no immediate indication of when it would end what amounts to a blockade.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China would “firmly safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, resolutely deter the US from containing China with the Taiwan issue and resolutely shatter the Taiwan authorities’ illusion of “relying on the US for independence.”

China’s slowing economic growth, which has reduced options among migrant workers as well as college graduates, has raised the specter of social unrest. The party has maintained its power through total control of the press and social media, along with suppression of political opponents, independent lawyers and activists working on issues from online free speech to LGBQT rights.

China doesn’t allow public opinion polls, and popular opinion is hard to judge. However, it generally skews in favor of the government and its efforts to restore China’s former dominant role in the region that puts it in conflict with the United States and its allies, including Japan and Australia.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said Sunday it detected a total of 66 aircraft and 14 warships conducting the naval and air exercises. The island has responded by putting its military on alert and deploying ships, plans and other assets to monitor Chinese aircraft, ships and drones that are “simulating attacks on the island of Taiwan and our ships at sea.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s official Central News Agency reported that Taiwan’s army will conduct live-fire artillery drills in southern Pingtung county on Tuesday and Thursday, in response to the Chinese exercises.

The drills will include snipers, combat vehicles, armored vehicles as well as attack helicopters, said the report, which cited an anonymous source.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has called on the international community to “support democratic Taiwan” and “halt any escalation of the regional security situation.” The Group of Seven industrialized nations has also criticized China’s actions, prompting Beijing to cancel a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi.

China has cut off defense and climate talks with the US and imposed sanctions on Pelosi in retaliation for her visit.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia over the weekend that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful and did not represent a change in American policy toward Taiwan. He accused China of using the trip as a “pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”

The Biden administration and Pelosi say the US remains committed to the “one-China” policy that extends formal diplomatic recognition to Beijing while allowing robust informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.

The US, however, criticized Beijing’s actions in the Taiwan Strait, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling them “fundamentally irresponsible.”

“There’s no need and no reason for this escalation,” Jean-Pierre said.

In Washington, Taiwanese de facto ambassador Bi-khim Hsiao said China had no reason to “be so furious” over Pelosi’s visit, which follows a long tradition of American lawmakers visiting Taiwan.

“Well, you know, we have been living under the threat from China for decades,” Hsiao told CBS News on Sunday. “If you have a kid being bullied at school, you don’t say you don’t go to school. You try to find a way to deal with the bully.

“The risks are posed by Beijing,” Hsiao said.

On a visit to Myanmar, whose Chinese-backed military government has been accused of murdering its opponents, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Washington was “taking the opportunity to build up its military deployment in the region, which deserves high vigilance and resolute boycott from all sides.”

“China’s firm stance” is aimed at “earnestly safeguarding peace across the Taiwan Strait and regional stability,” Wang was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong called for a cooling of tensions. “Australia continues to urge restraint, Australia continues to urge deescalation, and this is not something that solely Australia is calling for, and the whole region is concerned about the current situation, the whole region is calling for stability to be restored,” Wong told reporters in Canberra.

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US

China begins live ammunition drills near Taiwan after Pelosi visit

China begins live ammunition drills near Taiwan after Pelosi visit

The Chinese military began live ammunition drills near Taiwan on Thursday in a days-long apparent show of force after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-governing island.

Latest: Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said it activated its defense systems after China’s military launched multiple ballistic missiles into Taipei’s northeast and southwest waters. “We condemn such irrational action that has jeopardized regional peace,” the ministry said.

  • China’s military said earlier it had conducted “long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes” in the eastern region of the Taiwan Strait, as its state media described the exercises as a “joint blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control.”

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Maritime Port Bureau reported that the Chinese military had added a seventh zone for its exercise encircling the self-governing island.

Why it matters: The zones the Chinese military outlined for the drills encircle Taiwan and some areas cross into territorial waters claimed by the island, the New York Times notes, raising alarm about the potential for dangerous accidents or miscalculation.

  • The Chinese military warned boats and plans to avoid the areas from Thursday through Sunday for the drills, which the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense said violate Taipei’s sovereignty and greater amount “to a blockade of Taiwan’s air and sea space.”
  • The planned exercises “unilaterally undermine regional peace and stability,” the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. “This move will not help China’s international image and will hurt people on both sides of the strait.”
  • The current tensions echo the 1996 cross-strait crisis.

What they’re saying: China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters from the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Cambodia on Wednesday that Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was a “complete farce.”

  • He said the “irreversible historical trend of Taiwan’s return to the motherland cannot be changed” and those “who offend China will surely be punished.”

Catch-up quick: The Chinese government announced the exercises as Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for an overnight visit that angered Beijing, which had warned of “serious consequences” in the days leading up to the trip.

  • Pelosi, the most senior US lawmaker to visit the island since 1997, made the trip despite President Biden saying publicly that the US military felt it was “not a good idea right now.”
  • “Now more than ever America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial,” Pelosi said early Wednesday local time as she met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen.
  • Despite the heightened tensions, many in Taipei expressed appreciation for Pelosi’s support, Axios’ Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian reports from Taiwan. Tsai said Wednesday that Taiwan will never back down amid heightened security threats.

Flash back: China, angered over a visit to the US by then-Tawainese President Lee Teng-hui, conducted missile tests in 1996, with missiles landing in waters off Taiwan and one flying almost directly over the capital, Taipei, Allen-Ebrahimian writes.

  • The US, meanwhile, sent two aircraft carrier groups through the Taiwan Strait.

Go deeper… In photos: China’s military drills encircle Taiwan

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

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US

China claims ‘precision missile strikes’ in Taiwan Strait

China claims 'precision missile strikes' in Taiwan Strait

BEIJING (AP) — China says it conducted “precision missile strikes” in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday as part of military exercises that have raised tensions in the region to their highest level in decades.

China earlier that announced military exercises by its navy, air force and other departments were underway in six zones surrounding Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

The drills were prompted by a visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week and are intended to advertise China’s threat to attack the self-governing island republic. Along with its moves to isolate Taiwan diplomatically, China has long threatened military retaliation over moves by the island to solidify its de-facto independence with the support of key allies including the US

“Long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes were carried out on selected targets in the eastern area of ​​the Taiwan Strait,” the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party’s military wing, said in a statement on its social media platform.

“The expected outcome was achieved,” it added. No other details were given.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it tracked the firing of Chinese Dongfeng series missiles beginning around 1:56 pm on Thursday. It said in a statement it used various early warning surveillance systems to track the missile launches, which were directed at waters northeast and southwest of Taiwan.

Earlier during the day, Taiwa’s Defense ministry said its forces were on alert and monitoring the situation, while seeking to avoid escalating tensions. Civil defense drills have also been held and notices were placed on designated air raid shelters.

China’s “irrational behavior” intends to alter the status quo and disrupt regional peace and stability, the ministry said.

“The three service branches will combine efforts with all the people to jointly safeguard national security and territorial integrity” while adapting to the situation as it develops, the statement said.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported the exercises were joint operations focused on “blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control.”

While the US has not said it would intervene, it has bases and forward-deployed assets in the area, including aircraft carrier battle groups. US law requires the government to treat threats to Taiwan, including blockades, as matters of “grave concern.”

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.

While China has given no word on numbers of troops and military assets involved, the exercises appear to be the largest held near Taiwan in geographical terms.

The exercises involved troops from the navy, air force, rocket force, strategic support force and logistic support force, Xinhua reported.

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