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China increases pressure on Taiwan.
Warships have breached an important border while super drones patrol the island.
– Hostile forces can attack at any time, Joanne Ou at Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry.
US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan has stirred up strong feelings in China. Just hours after she left the self-governing island, China began its largest ever military exercise.
Super drones are patrolling the Kinmen Islands in the Taiwan Strait and loud detonations have been heard as projectiles have been fired over the sea, according to AFP. China has confirmed that it will use live ammunition.
During Friday morning, China also stated that it had fired robots over the island for the first time. A major provocation, according to White House spokesman John Kirby.
– We expected that China would be able to take steps like this, the fact is that I told you that a few days ago, he says at a press conference.
– We expect it to continue in the next few days.
Crossed important border
In a statement, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense said the robots had flown over and caused no damage to the island. But the concern is great after the increased pressure from the neighboring country.
According to the Ministry of Defense, China has crossed the “midpoint” between Taiwan and the mainland. Warships and warplanes are said to have crossed the informal border previously respected by both parties.
– Hostile forces and their cyber army can launch attacks at any time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must therefore continue to be vigilant. If something abnormal happens, we will respond quickly and deal with it in a way that is appropriate, said Joanne Ou, spokesperson for Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
After the “malicious” and “provocative” trip to Taiwan, which China considers to be part of its own territory, China has also decided to impose sanctions on Nancy Pelosi and her immediate family.
“Despite China’s serious concerns and opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, meddling in China’s internal affairs, undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said a spokesperson for the department.
Stops citrus fruits and sand
The situation risks leading to a trade war between China and Taiwan, according to experts. China has already halted the import of citrus fruits and fish from Taiwan while blocking the export of sand to the neighboring country.
But the government in Taiwan also worries that China will set up a trade blockade in retaliation for Pelosi’s visit. Taiwan is the world’s largest sub-supplier of semiconductors and a total shutdown could trigger a global crisis for the electronics industry.
Research professor Mikael Mattlin at the Institute for Foreign Policy believes, however, that the risk of a trade blockade is low.
– This situation comes rather inappropriately for China’s leadership, so it is now more of a defensive reaction. The leadership is forced to react as it is quite short before the party congress, and the leadership has very little room when public opinion is pushing, so they chose to make a point here, he tells Swedish EPN.
– What I mean is that if Pelosi had not gone there, we would not have seen this situation.
Facts
Taiwan
Taiwan consists of a main island and several smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Asian mainland. The nation functions in practice as an independent and democratic state, but is recognized as such by only a handful of countries. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway region that should be part of China.
The conflict dates back to 1949, when the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang Party led by Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to Taiwan after the civil war against the Communists. Taiwan, formally referred to as the Republic of China, represented China at the United Nations until 1971, when the Communist regime in Beijing took over that function. Since then, Taiwan has been diplomatically isolated, but thanks to a developed export economy and high-tech industry, the country has managed well nonetheless.
The country has been governed since 2016 by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with President Tsai Ing-Wen. The DPP advocates formal independence, while the Kuomintang says no to both independence and unification with China.
China does not accept that other countries have relations with both Beijing and the Taiwanese government in Taipei. (TT)
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