Taipei warns drills may lead to invasion

China used US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei as a pretext to prepare for a possible invasion of Taiwan and expand its control in the region, the island’s foreign minister said, adding that Beijing has been planning the move for some time.

China’s military drills in the seas and air around Taiwan were aimed at changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, Joseph Wu said in Taipei on Tuesday. The activities fuelled concern Beijing may proceed with an actual invasion, he said.

“The median line of the Taiwan Strait has kept the status quo in the strait for decades, and it’s a symbol of the status quo in the strait,” Wu said.

“This fact has been harmed for the past few days due to the Chinese drills, which affect regional peace, stability, and especially Taiwan’s security.”

‘SAME BOAT’

China’s ambitions do not stop at Taiwan, Wu warned. Beijing is determined to exert control over the East and South China seas at either end of the Taiwan Strait, and so make the whole area its internal waters, he said.

“I’m sure these Chinese activities are making our friends like Japan very nervous and making our Southeast Asian friends very nervous as well,” he said. “We are in the same boat.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the continuing drills a “warning to the provocateur” at a news briefing in Beijing, in a veiled reference to the US, which China blames for inflaming current tensions.

China sent more than 120 aircraft across the median line from Wednesday to Sunday. Taiwan responded by deploying aircraft and vessels, issuing radio warnings and deploying land-based missile systems to monitor activities.

The Taiwanese defence ministry said it detected 45 Chinese warplanes and 10 warships around the island on Tuesday, with 16 People’s Liberation Army jets having flown through the median line of the strait.

For the second day running, China’s military announced new exercises near Taiwan on Tuesday, as Beijing keeps up pressure on the island past an initial set of provocative drills in the wake of Pelosi’s visit. Beijing denounced her trip as a violation of the US’s pledge 50 years ago not to formally recognise the government of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory.

Reiterating the government’s stance that Taiwan and China are separate jurisdictions with neither subordinate to the other, Wu said China’s military actions violate the island’s rights under international law, but that Taipei will remain calm. He added that most people in Taiwan supported the trip by Pelosi, the first sitting House speaker in about 25 years to visit the island.

Taiwan proceeded with a live-fire artillery drill on Tuesday simulating defence against a Chinese invasion. The drills, which took place for about an hour in the south of the island, exercised a response to an attack from a People’s Liberation Army convoy on the beach, according to a defence force spokesperson. The drills were not related to the recent Chinese military exercises, the spokesperson said.