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China aircraft and ships carried out simulated attack drills, says Taiwan – live news | Taiwan

August 6, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Here’s a summary of the latest developments as it passes 2pm in Taipei.

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Taiwan’s defence ministry has accused Chinese aircraft and ships of carrying out simulation attack exercises on its main island on Saturday. Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were detected in the Taiwan Strait, some of which crossed the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to the ministry. Taiwan’s army used patrolling naval ships and put shore-based missiles on stand-by in response.

A Taiwan official who was in charge of various missile production projects was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room in Southern Taiwan, according to the official Central News Agency. Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, was 57. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.

The US, Australian and Japanese foreign ministers have urged China to immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan. In a joint statement after meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ gathering, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Hayashi Yoshimasa, “expressed their concern about the People’s Republic of China’s recent actions that gravely affect international peace and stability, including the use of large-scale military exercises”. They also “condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government reported landed in its exclusive economic zones, raising tension and destabilising the region”.

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said Chinese military drills near Taiwan, were a threat to regional security. Beijing announced four days of drills that are expected to finish on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens,” Kishida told reporters, speaking after a meeting with the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in Tokyo on Friday.

North Korea has denounced Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability”, after the US House speaker expressed her commitment during a visit to South Korea to achieving the North’s denuclearisation. It also condemned her trip to Taiwan.

The US special envoy on climate change John Kerry said China’s decision to suspend bilateral talks on climate change with the US does not punish Washington, “it punishes the world”. “No country should withhold progress on existential transnational issues because of bilateral differences,” said the former US secretary of state, who is currently the Biden administration’s top climate diplomat. US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, also told reporters that China’s decision to halt cooperation in a number of critical areas was “fundamentally irresponsible”.

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In response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Beijing on Friday cancelled efforts to keep communication channels open between Chinese and US military commanders.

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It’s feared that this raises the risk of an accidental escalation in tensions. Reuters has published some analysis on this:

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Christopher Twomey, a security scholar at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, told Reuters the severing of the communication links was worrying, coming at what he believed was the beginning of a new Taiwan crisis.

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“That is precisely the time you would want to have more opportunities to talk to the other side … Losing those channels greatly reduces the ability of the two sides to de-conflict military forces as various exercises and operations continue.”

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As Chinese warships, fighter jets and drones manoeuvre around Taiwan, at least four powerful US vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam are east of Taiwan, Reuters has confirmed.

Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based security analyst with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said, more broadly, prospects were “extremely low for holding talks on risk reduction measures or stability”. Over time, she said she expected the specific talks called off this week would resume but “right now, China has to signal toughness and resolve”.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chinese officials had not responded to calls from senior Pentagon officials this week but that was seen as China showing displeasure over Pelosi’s trip rather than the severing of the channel between senior defence officials, including US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Austin pushed for improved communication between the rival forces when he met Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of Shangri-la Dialogue security meeting in Singapore in June.

Both Asian and Western diplomats said US military chiefs had been pushing for more frequent theatre-level command talks for some time, given China’s growing deployments across Asia, where the US navy has traditionally been the dominant power.

The Pentagon said on Friday that China was overreacting and the US was still open to building crisis communication mechanisms.

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The deputy head of Taiwan defence ministry’s research and development unit has been found dead in a hotel in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, according to the official Central News Agency.

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Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, was 57. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.

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Ou Yang, who was in charge of various missile production projects, had been on a business trip to Pingtung.

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The military-owned body is working to more than double its yearly missile production capacity to close to 500 this year, as the island boosts its combat power amid what it sees as China’s growing military threat, according to Reuters.

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Taiwan’s defence ministry has said that some Chinese aircraft and ships carried out simulation attack exercises towards the main Taiwan Island on Saturday, Reuters senior correspondent in Taipei Yimou Lee has tweeted.

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Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were detected in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday morning, some of which crossed the median line, they report.

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#TAIWAN DEFENCE MINISTRY: SOME OF THE CHINESE AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS CARRIED OUT SIMULATION ATTACK EXERCISES TOWARDS THE MAIN TAIWAN ISLAND ON SAT

— Yimou Lee (@YimouLee) August 6, 2022

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Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the Taiwan crisis. Here’s a summary of the latest developments as it passes 10.30am in Taipei.

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The US, Australian and Japanese foreign ministers have urged China to immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan. In a joint statement after meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ gathering, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Hayashi Yoshimasa, “expressed their concern about the People’s Republic of China’s recent actions that gravely affect international peace and stability, including the use of large-scale military exercises”. They also “condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government reported landed in its exclusive economic zones, raising tension and destabilising the region”.

The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, walked out of a plenary session in Cambodia just as Japan’s top diplomat, Yoshimasa Hayashi, spoke on Friday. Wang called a rare news conference late on Friday, where he accused the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, of spreading misinformation. He called Nancy Pelosi’s trip a “contemptible farce” and stressed China’s military response to it was “firm, forceful and appropriate”.

The US special envoy on climate change John Kerry said China’s decision to suspend bilateral talks on climate change with the US does not punish Washington, “it punishes the world”. “No country should withhold progress on existential transnational issues because of bilateral differences,” said the former US secretary of state, who is currently the Biden administration’s top climate diplomat. US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, also told reporters that China’s decision to halt cooperation in a number of critical areas was “fundamentally irresponsible”.

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said Chinese military drills near Taiwan, were a threat to regional security. Beijing announced four days of drills that are expected to finish on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens,” Kishida told reporters, speaking after a meeting with the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in Tokyo on Friday.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Friday the island’s military had dispatched aircraft and ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor ships and aircraft that briefly crossed the Taiwan strait median line. On Thursday, China fired multiple missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan. The defence ministry later said the missiles were high in the atmosphere and posed no threat. It gave no details of their flight paths, citing intelligence concerns. Taiwan also said it scrambled jets on Friday to warn away 49 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, according to Reuters. All 49 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan strait median line, the ministry said in a statement.

North Korea has denounced Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability”, after the US House speaker expressed her commitment during a visit to South Korea to achieving the North’s denuclearisation.

China has “historically been a victim of foreign aggression”, its foreign ministry spokesperson said. In a series of tweets on Friday, Hua Chunying said: “China had historically been a victim of foreign aggression. Today, the US still grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs and attempts to undermine China’s sovereignty and security from time to time.”

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Summary

Here’s a summary of the latest developments as it passes 2pm in Taipei.

Taiwan’s defence ministry has accused Chinese aircraft and ships of carrying out simulation attack exercises on its main island on Saturday. Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were detected in the Taiwan Strait, some of which crossed the median line, an unofficial buffer separating the two sides, according to the ministry. Taiwan’s army used patrolling naval ships and put shore-based missiles on stand-by in response.
A Taiwan official who was in charge of various missile production projects was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room in Southern Taiwan, according to the official Central News Agency. Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, was 57. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.
The US, Australian and Japanese foreign ministers have urged China to immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan. In a joint statement after meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ gathering, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Hayashi Yoshimasa, “expressed their concern about the People’s Republic of China’s recent actions that gravely affect international peace and stability, including the use of large-scale military exercises”. They also “condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government reported landed in its exclusive economic zones, raising tension and destabilising the region”.
Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said Chinese military drills near Taiwan, were a threat to regional security. Beijing announced four days of drills that are expected to finish on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens,” Kishida told reporters, speaking after a meeting with the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in Tokyo on Friday.
North Korea has denounced Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability”, after the US House speaker expressed her commitment during a visit to South Korea to achieving the North’s denuclearisation. It also condemned her trip to Taiwan.
The US special envoy on climate change John Kerry said China’s decision to suspend bilateral talks on climate change with the US does not punish Washington, “it punishes the world”. “No country should withhold progress on existential transnational issues because of bilateral differences,” said the former US secretary of state, who is currently the Biden administration’s top climate diplomat. US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, also told reporters that China’s decision to halt cooperation in a number of critical areas was “fundamentally irresponsible”.

In response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Beijing on Friday cancelled efforts to keep communication channels open between Chinese and US military commanders.

It’s feared that this raises the risk of an accidental escalation in tensions. Reuters has published some analysis on this:

Christopher Twomey, a security scholar at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, told Reuters the severing of the communication links was worrying, coming at what he believed was the beginning of a new Taiwan crisis.

“That is precisely the time you would want to have more opportunities to talk to the other side … Losing those channels greatly reduces the ability of the two sides to de-conflict military forces as various exercises and operations continue.”

As Chinese warships, fighter jets and drones manoeuvre around Taiwan, at least four powerful US vessels, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam are east of Taiwan, Reuters has confirmed.

Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based security analyst with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said, more broadly, prospects were “extremely low for holding talks on risk reduction measures or stability”. Over time, she said she expected the specific talks called off this week would resume but “right now, China has to signal toughness and resolve”.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chinese officials had not responded to calls from senior Pentagon officials this week but that was seen as China showing displeasure over Pelosi’s trip rather than the severing of the channel between senior defence officials, including US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Austin pushed for improved communication between the rival forces when he met Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of Shangri-la Dialogue security meeting in Singapore in June.

Both Asian and Western diplomats said US military chiefs had been pushing for more frequent theatre-level command talks for some time, given China’s growing deployments across Asia, where the US navy has traditionally been the dominant power.

The Pentagon said on Friday that China was overreacting and the US was still open to building crisis communication mechanisms.

Taiwan official leading missile production found dead in hotel

The deputy head of Taiwan defence ministry’s research and development unit has been found dead in a hotel in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, according to the official Central News Agency.

Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, was 57. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.

Ou Yang, who was in charge of various missile production projects, had been on a business trip to Pingtung.

Agence France-Presse is reporting some more lines from North Korea’s comments on Pelosi’s trip to Asia.

She visited Seoul and the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, or Joint Security Area between the two Koreas, earlier this week. Pelosi and her South Korean counterpart, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, called for “strong and extended deterrence against North Korea”, and vowed to support efforts by Washington and Seoul to achieve Pyongyang’s denuclearisation.

The North on Saturday denounced Pelosi for her discussions with Kim and her visit to the JSA and Taiwan, reports AFP:

On top of the deterrence talks, Pelosi “made her appearance even in the joint security area of Panmunjom, utterly betraying the vision of the hostile policy of the current US administration towards the DPRK,” said Jo Yong Sam, an official at North Korea’s foreign ministry, using the North’s official name.

“The US is just adding fuel to the fire,” Jo added in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency. China is the North’s key ally and trade partner, and Pyongyang also lashed out at Pelosi over her visit to Taiwan.

“Pelosi, the worst destroyer of international peace and stability… incurred the wrath of the Chinese people for her recent junket to Taiwan,” the foreign ministry’s Jo said in the statement.

“The US will have to pay dearly for all the sources of trouble spawned by her wherever she went.”

The rebuke from the North comes about a week after Kim Jong Un said his country was “ready to mobilise” its nuclear deterrent in any future military conflict with the US and Seoul.

North Korea has conducted a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests so far this year, including firing an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range for the first time since 2017.

Some further detail from Taiwan’s defence ministry on what it describes here as a “possible simulated attack”.

Taiwan’s army broadcast a warning, deployed air reconnaissance patrol forces and ships to monitor while putting shore-based missiles on stand-by.

Multiple PLA craft were detected around Taiwan Strait, some have crossed the median line. Possible simulated attack against HVA. #ROCArmedForces have utilized alert broadcast, aircraft in CAP, patrolling naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in response to this situation.

— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) August 6, 2022

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Multiple PLA craft were detected around Taiwan Strait, some have crossed the median line. Possible simulated attack against HVA. #ROCArmedForces have utilized alert broadcast, aircraft in CAP, patrolling naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in response to this situation.

— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) August 6, 2022

Chinese aircraft and ships carried out simulation attack exercises

Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were detected in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday morning, some of which crossed the median line, they report.

#TAIWAN DEFENCE MINISTRY: SOME OF THE CHINESE AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS CARRIED OUT SIMULATION ATTACK EXERCISES TOWARDS THE MAIN TAIWAN ISLAND ON SAT

— Yimou Lee (@YimouLee) August 6, 2022

#TAIWAN DEFENCE MINISTRY: SOME OF THE CHINESE AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS CARRIED OUT SIMULATION ATTACK EXERCISES TOWARDS THE MAIN TAIWAN ISLAND ON SAT

— Yimou Lee (@YimouLee) August 6, 2022

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly has also urged China to halt its military actions in the air and seas around Taiwan.

“Canada is deeply concerned by the missiles launched by the People’s Republic of China towards Taiwan and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. This action threatens regional stability and security,” she said in a statement on Twitter.

Canada is deeply concerned by the missiles launched by the People’s Republic of China towards Taiwan and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. This action threatens regional stability and security. We strongly urge the PRC to halt its coercive military and economic actions.

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) August 5, 2022

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Canada is deeply concerned by the missiles launched by the People’s Republic of China towards Taiwan and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone. This action threatens regional stability and security. We strongly urge the PRC to halt its coercive military and economic actions.

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) August 5, 2022

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the new Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr this morning in Malacañang palace in Manila.

Blinken reportedly said that relations between their two countries were extraordinary, founded in friendship, and said Washington was committed to their joint defence pact.

Marcos Jr said the current geopolitical context showed the importance of such ties. Marcos Jr also said he did not think Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan had raised the intensity of conflict in the region. “It just demonstrated it, how the intensity of that conflict has been,” he said, according to reports by GMA News Online.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken now in Malacañang for his meeting with President Bongbong Marcos Jr. 📸: MPC POOL @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/njxmYumEjF

— 👑Anna Felicia (@annafelicia_) August 6, 2022

n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/annafelicia_/status/1555723935966466048″,”id”:”1555723935966466048″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”73d8ad01-d00a-4c38-b06c-ac82f37c02ee”}}”/>

The chair of this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings said on Saturday that discussions among foreign ministers over Taiwan tensions had been lively and included some strong arguments, but it was better disputes were handled with words, reports Reuters.

Prak Sokhonn, Cambodia’s foreign minister, said he told a meeting of foreign ministers they must have calm, dignified, polite, and civilised discussions.

“The most important thing is that we continue to talk to each other,” he told a news conference.

Earlier this week, foreign ministers from ASEAN called for “maximum restraint” regarding the Taiwan Strait, warning the situation could lead to “serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers.”

Summary

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of the Taiwan crisis. Here’s a summary of the latest developments as it passes 10.30am in Taipei.

The US, Australian and Japanese foreign ministers have urged China to immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan. In a joint statement after meeting in Phnom Penh on the margins of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ gathering, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Hayashi Yoshimasa, “expressed their concern about the People’s Republic of China’s recent actions that gravely affect international peace and stability, including the use of large-scale military exercises”. They also “condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government reported landed in its exclusive economic zones, raising tension and destabilising the region”.
The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, walked out of a plenary session in Cambodia just as Japan’s top diplomat, Yoshimasa Hayashi, spoke on Friday. Wang called a rare news conference late on Friday, where he accused the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, of spreading misinformation. He called Nancy Pelosi’s trip a “contemptible farce” and stressed China’s military response to it was “firm, forceful and appropriate”.
The US special envoy on climate change John Kerry said China’s decision to suspend bilateral talks on climate change with the US does not punish Washington, “it punishes the world”. “No country should withhold progress on existential transnational issues because of bilateral differences,” said the former US secretary of state, who is currently the Biden administration’s top climate diplomat. US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, also told reporters that China’s decision to halt cooperation in a number of critical areas was “fundamentally irresponsible”.
Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said Chinese military drills near Taiwan, were a threat to regional security. Beijing announced four days of drills that are expected to finish on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens,” Kishida told reporters, speaking after a meeting with the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in Tokyo on Friday.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Friday the island’s military had dispatched aircraft and ships and deployed land-based missile systems to monitor ships and aircraft that briefly crossed the Taiwan strait median line. On Thursday, China fired multiple missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan. The defence ministry later said the missiles were high in the atmosphere and posed no threat. It gave no details of their flight paths, citing intelligence concerns. Taiwan also said it scrambled jets on Friday to warn away 49 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, according to Reuters. All 49 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan strait median line, the ministry said in a statement.
North Korea has denounced Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability”, after the US House speaker expressed her commitment during a visit to South Korea to achieving the North’s denuclearisation.
China has “historically been a victim of foreign aggression”, its foreign ministry spokesperson said. In a series of tweets on Friday, Hua Chunying said: “China had historically been a victim of foreign aggression. Today, the US still grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs and attempts to undermine China’s sovereignty and security from time to time.”

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Blinken: China military drills are ‘significant escalation’

August 5, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday that China’s military exercises aimed at Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, represent a “significant escalation” and that he has urged Beijing to back down.

China launched the drills following a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan that infuriated Beijing, which claims the self-governed island as its own territory.

Blinken told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia, however, that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful and did not represent a change in American policy toward Taiwan, accusing China of using it as a “pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”

He said the situation had led to a “vigorous communication” during East Asia Summit meetings in Phnom Penh in which both he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took part along with the ASEAN nations, Russia and others.

“I reiterated the points that we made publicly as well as directly to Chinese counterparts in recent days, again, about the fact that they should not use the visit as a pretext for war, escalation, for provocative actions, that there is no possible justification for what they’ve done and urge them to cease these actions,” he said.

Blinken did not sit down one-on-one with Wang but said he had spoken with the Chinese foreign minister already about the possibility of a Pelosi visit to Taiwan before it had taken place during meetings in Bali, and had made the U.S. position clear.

China on Friday announced unspecified sanctions on Pelosi for her visit. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said she had disregarded China’s concerns and resolute opposition to her trip.

Pelosi received a euphoric welcome as the first U.S. House speaker, and highest ranking U.S. official, to visit Taiwan in more than 25 years.

China opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments, and has accused the U.S. of breaking the status quo with the Pelosi visit. The U.S. insists there has been no change to its “one-China” position of recognizing the government in Beijing, while allowing for informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.

Despite the aggressive Chinese reaction to the visit, Blinken said the U.S. would also not change its “commitment to the security of our allies in the region,” and that the Defense Department had ordered the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group “to remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.”

“We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he said. “We’ll continue to conduct standard air and maritime transits through the Taiwan Strait, consistent with our long-standing approach to working with allies and partners to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight.”

As the East Asia Summit opened, Wang patted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the shoulder as he entered the room and gave the already-seated Lavrov a quick wave before taking his own seat. Lavrov waved back in response.

Blinken, who entered the room last, did not even glance at Lavrov as he took his own seat about a half dozen chairs away, or at Wang who was seated farther down the same table as Lavrov.

Ahead of the Phnom Penh talks, the U.S. State Department indicated Blinken had no plans to meet one-on-one with either man during the course of the meetings.

Following the meetings, Lavrov told reporters there had been a lot of “fiery statements” about the aftermath of the Pelosi visit.

“There have been rather sharp statements from our Chinese partners, who we support,” he told reporters. “And there have been responses from the U.S. and Japan that it’s not China’s business and that the declared policy of supporting the one-China principle doesn’t mean one has to ask Beijing for permission to visit Taiwan. Surely, it’s a weird logic.”

The talks came a day after WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison by Russia in a politically charged case amid antagonisms over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Blinken said the conviction and sentence “compounds the injustice that has been done to her.”

“It puts a spotlight on our very significant turn with Russia’s legal system and the Russian government’s use of wrongful detentions to advance its own agenda using individuals as political pawns,” he said.

Blinken has suggested the possibility of a prisoner swap for Griner and another American jailed in Russia, Paul Whelan, but Lavrov told reporters that such a deal could only be decided upon by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden.

“We’re ready to discuss this topic, but to discuss it within the channel that was agreed on by presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov said on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.

On Thursday, China canceled a foreign ministers’ meeting with Japan to protest a statement from the Group of Seven industrialized nations that said there was no justification for Beijing’s military exercises, which virtually encircle Taiwan.

“Japan, together with other member of the G-7 and the EU, made an irresponsible statement accusing China and confounding right and wrong,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing.

When Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa began to speak Friday at the East Asia Summit, both Lavrov and Wang walked out of the room, according to a diplomat in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private session.

In the wake of the Chinese missile launches into Japan’s economic zone, Blinken said the U.S. stands in “strong solidarity” with Japan following the “dangerous actions China has taken.”

___

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

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China will not isolate Taiwan, Pelosi says, as second day of military drills set to begin – live | Taiwan

August 5, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Pelosi says US will not allow China to isolate Taiwan

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said China will not isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from travelling there.

Pelosi, who is currently visiting officials in Tokyo, said the US will “not allow” China to isolate Taiwan, after her visit infuriated Beijing.

They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there.”

Pelosi and five other members of Congress arrived in Tokyo late Thursday after visiting Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea.

In Taipei on Wednesday, Pelosi said the American commitment to democracy in Taiwan and elsewhere “remains ironclad.”

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said China will not isolate Taiwan by preventing US officials from travelling there.

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Pelosi, who is currently visiting officials in Tokyo, said the US will “not allow” China to isolate Taiwan, after her visit infuriated Beijing.

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They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there.”

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Pelosi and five other members of Congress arrived in Tokyo late Thursday after visiting Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea.

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In Taipei on Wednesday, Pelosi said the American commitment to democracy in Taiwan and elsewhere “remains ironclad.”

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The United States has condemned China’s launch of 11 ballistic missiles around Taiwan during major military drills as an overreaction to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island, urging Beijing to reduce tensions.

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White House spokesperson John Kirby said:

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China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan strait.

n

The temperature’s pretty high,” but tensions “can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these very aggressive military drills,” he added.

n

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In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Kirby said: “We’ve been watching this very, very closely.”

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When asked whether Pelosi’s trip triggered China’s military drills, Kirby said:

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The provocateur here is Beijing. They didn’t have to react this way to what is completely normal travel by congressional members to Taiwan… The Chinese are the ones who are escalating this.”

n

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He also warned the risk of calculation of the drills, saying, “One of the things that’s troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of calculation, the risk of a mistake that could actually lead to some sort of conflict.”

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US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington had contacted Beijing “at every level of government” in recent days to call for calm and stability.

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I hope very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity,” Blinken told ministers from the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) in Phnom Penh.

n

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Japan’s prime minister has condemned China’s firing of ballistic missiles during military drills around Taiwan, calling them a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens”.

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Five Chinese missiles appear to have fallen in the country’s exclusive economic zone, Tokyo has said, with four of those believed to have flown over Taiwan’s main island.

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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after meeting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning:

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China’s actions this time around have a serious impact on the peace and stability of our region and the international community.

n

I told her that we have called for the immediate cancellation of the military drills.”

n

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Pelosi is in Tokyo for the final leg of an Asian tour that included a stop in Taiwan, infuriating Beijing, which has launched its largest-ever military drills around the self-ruled island in response.

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Tokyo has lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the military exercises, which began on Thursday.

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Parts of Japan’s southernmost Okinawa region are close to Taiwan, as are islets at the centre of a long-running dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.

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Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends up to 200 nautical miles from its coastline, beyond the limits of its territorial waters.

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Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of tensions between China and Taiwan.

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I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments.

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It is 9am in Beijing. Here is everything you might have missed:

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China is to begin its second day of unprecedented live-fire drills after launching huge military exercises in the air and seas around Taiwan on Thursday, including firing ballistic missiles close to the island some of which landed in Japanese waters.

The exercises, which included rockets, attack helicopters and gunships, were arranged in reaction to a defiant visit to the island by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday.

The US condemned the missile launches. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.

Kirby also warned of the risk of a mistake and calculation of the drills, saying, “One of the things that’s troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of calculation, the risk of a mistake that could actually lead to some sort of conflict.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretence to increase its aggressive military action”.

Foreign ministers from the 10-member Asean bloc, meeting in Cambodia this week, called for “maximum restraint”, without mentioning the US or China by name. In a statement it said the situation could lead to “serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”.

Japan said at least five of the 11 Dongfeng ballistic missiles fell into its exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from Japan’s coast.

Japan also speculated that four missiles flew over Taipei, Taiwan’s capital city, according to a statement issued by its US embassy.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said the missiles flew high into the atmosphere and constituted no threat to the island.

Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, urged Beijing to “act with reason and exercise restraint” while maintaining Taiwan would not escalate conflict but would “resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy”.

Foreign governments and multilateral groups including the G7 and the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) condemned the hostilities and called for calm.

The drills were in unprecedented proximity to Taiwan, and included PLA warplane and navy vessel incursions over the median line of the Taiwan strait – an unofficial border between China and Taiwan.

Notices of the exercises identified six areas encircling Taiwan, with warnings for all ships and aircraft to “not enter the relevant sea areas and airspace”. On Thursday, local media reported the last-minute announcement of a seventh. Some of the zones overlap with Taiwan’s territorial waters, and are near key shipping ports.

Several cyber-attacks also struck Taiwan, targeting websites of the defence ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential office.

Beijing’s Taiwan affairs office said the dispute was an internal affair. “Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces, is reasonable, lawful,” it said.

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Taiwan’s “evil neighbour” next door is showing off her power at our door, the island’s premier said on Friday.

China is arbitrarily destroying the world’s most frequently used waterway with military exercises, Su Tseng-chang told reporters in Taipei, when asked about China’s missile launches.

China’s actions are being condemned by neighbouring countries and the world, Su added.

The US navy’s USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier has reportedly retreated after Beijing’s military set a shooting range to the east of Taiwan.

The South China Morning Post reports a mainland military official as confirming the news.

Earlier on Thursday, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the carrier group had been ordered by the Pentagon to “remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.”

According to a Chinese military-backed research group, South China Sea Probing Initiative, the Reagan was about 600 miles (1,000km) due east of Taiwan on Wednesday.

However, Meng Xiangqing, a professor at the National Defence University, was quoted by China’s state broadcaster CGTV as saying Beijing had set its shooting range to the east of the island for the first time and that the USS Ronald Reagan had since retreated a few hundred kilometres.

The US navy has not confirmed the reports.

Former Chinese ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has made some bold claims against G7 countries this morning.

If the G7 countries truly care about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, they should have urged the US early on not to make such a dangerous, reckless and irresponsible provocation against China. Before Pelosi’s visit, those countries played dumb and did not say a word.”

If the #G7 countries truly care about peace & stability in the #Taiwan Strait, they should have urged the #US early on not to make such a dangerous, reckless and irresponsible provocation against #China. Before #Pelosi’s visit, those countries played dumb & did not say a word.

— 刘晓明Liu Xiaoming (@AmbLiuXiaoMing) August 5, 2022

n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/AmbLiuXiaoMing/status/1555369919226716163″,”id”:”1555369919226716163″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”569f979a-d21e-47ce-b090-7d2b79f7ef25″}}”>

If the #G7 countries truly care about peace & stability in the #Taiwan Strait, they should have urged the #US early on not to make such a dangerous, reckless and irresponsible provocation against #China. Before #Pelosi’s visit, those countries played dumb & did not say a word.

— 刘晓明Liu Xiaoming (@AmbLiuXiaoMing) August 5, 2022

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has called on Beijing to “act with reason and exercise restraint”.

With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason and exercise restraint.

Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.”

With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason & exercise restraint. Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.https://t.co/CXNli5bTWG

— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) August 4, 2022

n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/iingwen/status/1555226504556322821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1555226504556322821%7Ctwgr%5E02a2c5792095b0639c745658cf16b3b97263e2d2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2Flive%2F2022%2Faug%2F04%2Fchina-expected-to-begin-live-fire-military-exercises-near-taiwan-coast-in-wake-of-pelosi-visit-live%3FfilterKeyEvents%3Dfalse”,”id”:”1555226504556322821″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”97316b0a-64aa-46b6-9304-a28c2e38602b”}}”>

With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason & exercise restraint. Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.https://t.co/CXNli5bTWG

— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) August 4, 2022

US warns mistakes could lead to conflict

White House spokesperson John Kirby said:

China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan strait.

The temperature’s pretty high,” but tensions “can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these very aggressive military drills,” he added.

In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Kirby said: “We’ve been watching this very, very closely.”

When asked whether Pelosi’s trip triggered China’s military drills, Kirby said:

The provocateur here is Beijing. They didn’t have to react this way to what is completely normal travel by congressional members to Taiwan… The Chinese are the ones who are escalating this.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington had contacted Beijing “at every level of government” in recent days to call for calm and stability.

I hope very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity,” Blinken told ministers from the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) in Phnom Penh.

Chinese missiles ‘impacts our national security’: Japan PM

Five Chinese missiles appear to have fallen in the country’s exclusive economic zone, Tokyo has said, with four of those believed to have flown over Taiwan’s main island.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after meeting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this morning:

China’s actions this time around have a serious impact on the peace and stability of our region and the international community.

I told her that we have called for the immediate cancellation of the military drills.”

Tokyo has lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing over the military exercises, which began on Thursday.

Parts of Japan’s southernmost Okinawa region are close to Taiwan, as are islets at the centre of a long-running dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.

Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) extends up to 200 nautical miles from its coastline, beyond the limits of its territorial waters.

Summary and welcome

Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of tensions between China and Taiwan.

I’m Samantha Lock and I will be bringing you all the latest developments.

It is 9am in Beijing. Here is everything you might have missed:

China is to begin its second day of unprecedented live-fire drills after launching huge military exercises in the air and seas around Taiwan on Thursday, including firing ballistic missiles close to the island some of which landed in Japanese waters.
The exercises, which included rockets, attack helicopters and gunships, were arranged in reaction to a defiant visit to the island by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday.
The US condemned the missile launches. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
Kirby also warned of the risk of a mistake and calculation of the drills, saying, “One of the things that’s troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of calculation, the risk of a mistake that could actually lead to some sort of conflict.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretence to increase its aggressive military action”.
Foreign ministers from the 10-member Asean bloc, meeting in Cambodia this week, called for “maximum restraint”, without mentioning the US or China by name. In a statement it said the situation could lead to “serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”.
Japan said at least five of the 11 Dongfeng ballistic missiles fell into its exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from Japan’s coast.
Japan also speculated that four missiles flew over Taipei, Taiwan’s capital city, according to a statement issued by its US embassy.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said the missiles flew high into the atmosphere and constituted no threat to the island.
Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, urged Beijing to “act with reason and exercise restraint” while maintaining Taiwan would not escalate conflict but would “resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy”.
Foreign governments and multilateral groups including the G7 and the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) condemned the hostilities and called for calm.
The drills were in unprecedented proximity to Taiwan, and included PLA warplane and navy vessel incursions over the median line of the Taiwan strait – an unofficial border between China and Taiwan.
Notices of the exercises identified six areas encircling Taiwan, with warnings for all ships and aircraft to “not enter the relevant sea areas and airspace”. On Thursday, local media reported the last-minute announcement of a seventh. Some of the zones overlap with Taiwan’s territorial waters, and are near key shipping ports.
Several cyber-attacks also struck Taiwan, targeting websites of the defence ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential office.
Beijing’s Taiwan affairs office said the dispute was an internal affair. “Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces, is reasonable, lawful,” it said.

China is to begin its second day of unprecedented live-fire drills

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World

China fires missiles near waters off Taiwan as live-fire drills intensify

August 4, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

The Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that multiple missiles had been fired into the sea off the eastern part of Taiwan. It said all the missiles hit their target accurately.

“The entire live-fire training mission has been successfully completed and the relevant air and sea area control is now lifted,” China’s statement said. Earlier, the Eastern Theater Command said it had conducted long-range, live-fire training in the Taiwan Strait, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as part of planned military exercises around the island.

Taiwan reported Chinese long-range rockets had fallen near its islands of Matsu, Wuqiu, Dongyin, which are in the Taiwan Strait, but located closer to the mainland than the main island of Taiwan. It later said a total of 11 Dongfeng (DF) missiles were fired to the waters north, south and east of the island between 1:56 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time (from 1:56 a.m. ET to 4 a.m. ET) on Thursday.

Chinese state media said that exercises to simulate an air and sea “blockade” around Taiwan had started Wednesday, but offered little solid evidence to back up the claim. Later Thursday, images showed military helicopters flying past Pingtan island, one of Taiwan’s closest points to mainland China.

The military posturing was a deliberate show of force after Pelosi left the island on Wednesday evening, bound for South Korea, one of the final stops on an Asia tour that ends in Japan this weekend.

Within hours of her departure from Taipei on Wednesday, the island’s Defense Ministry said China sent more than 20 fighter jets across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, the midway point between the mainland and Taiwan that Beijing says it does not recognize but usually respects.

On Thursday, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said its military was remaining in a “normal” but wary posture, and called the live-fire drills an “irrational act” that attempted to “change the status quo.”

“We are closely monitoring enemy activities around the sea of Taiwan and that of outlying islands, and we will act appropriately,” the ministry said in a statement.

Taiwan also accused China of “following North Korea’s example of arbitrary test-fire of missiles in waters close to other countries” in a statement issued by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

The exercises have caused disruption to flight and ship schedules, with some international flights canceled and vessels urged to use alternative routes for several ports around the island.

And they have heightened tensions beyond Taiwan’s waters. Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Thursday that five missiles were believed to have landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“This is a serious problem that concerns Japan’s security and the safety of its citizens. We strongly condemn it,” Kishi told reporters during a press conference.

Kishi said this was the first time that Chinese ballistic missiles had landed within Japan’s EEZ and that a protest had been lodged with Beijing.

Exercises exerting pressure

Well in advance of Pelosi’s near 24-hour visit to Taiwan, China had warned her presence was not welcome. The ruling Chinese Communist Party claims the self-governed island as its own territory, despite never having controlled it.

China issued a map showing six zones around Taiwan that would be the site of drills in coming days. Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau said earlier Thursday that China had added a seventh military drill zone, but later retracted that statement, saying the earlier notice was wrong.

Chinese state media on Thursday outlined a broad range of objectives for the exercises, including strikes on land and sea targets.

“The exercises (are) focused on key training sessions including joint blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control operation, and the joint combat capabilities of the troops got tested in the military operations,” said an announcement from the Xinhua news agency attributed to the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, which has responsibility for the areas near Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the Global Times tabloid said the drills involved some of China’s newest and most sophisticated weaponry, including J-20 stealth fighters and DF-17 hypersonic missiles, and that some missiles may be fired over the island — a move that would be extremely provocative.

“The exercises are unprecedented as the PLA conventional missiles are expected to fly over the island of Taiwan for the first time,” the Global Times said, citing experts.

“The PLA forces will enter areas within 12 nautical miles of the island and the so-called median line will cease to exist.”

Accounts from Taiwan of Chinese military movement included the fighter jets crossing the median line and a report from Taiwan’s government-run Central News Agency, citing government sources, that two of China’s most powerful warships — Type 55 destroyers — were sighted Tuesday off the central and southeastern coast of the island, the closest being within 37 miles (60 kilometers) of land.

But there was little corroboration or firm evidence provided by China to back up the sort of claims posted in the Global Times.

China’s state-run television offered video of fighter jets taking off, ships at sea and missiles on the move, but the dates of when that video was shot could not be verified.

Some analysts were skeptical Beijing could pull off what they were threatening, such as a blockade of Taiwan.

“The official announcement (of the blockade) refers to just a few days, which would make it hard to qualify it on practical terms to a blockade,” said Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College in London.

“Blockades are hard to execute and long to implement. This exercise is not that,” he said.

Patalano said the biggest impact of the exercises would be psychological.

“During the period of time in question, ships and aircraft will likely reroute to avoid the area, but this is one primary objective of the chosen locations: create disruption, discomfort, and fear of worse to come,” he said.

Rerouting planes and ships

China’s retaliatory exercises have already caused disruption to flight and ship schedules in Taiwan, though the island is trying to lessen their impact.

Taiwan’s transportation minister said agreements had been reached with Japan and the Philippines to reroute 18 international flight routes departing from the island — affecting about 300 flights in total — to avoid the PLA’s live-fire drills.

Korean Air told CNN on Thursday that it has canceled flights from Incheon to Taiwan scheduled for Friday and Saturday due to safety reasons while China conducts its military drills. Flights will resume on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau issued three notices, asking vessels to use alternative routes for seven ports around the island.

China’s planned live-fire drills were also causing unease in Japan.

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said the drills posed a threat to his country’s security.

One of the six exercise areas set up by China was near Japan’s Yonaguni Island, part of Okinawa prefecture and only 68 miles (110 kilometers) off the coast of Taiwan.

That same Chinese exercise zone is also close to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, a rocky uninhabited chain known as the Diaoyus in China, and over which Beijing claims sovereignty.

“In particular, a training area has been set up in the waters near Japan, and if China were to conduct live ammunition exercises in such an area, it could affect the security of Japan and its people,” Matsuno said.

Meanwhile, the United States military was silent on the Chinese exercises and did not provide any answers to CNN questions on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he hoped “Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action.” Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-US Ministerial Meeting in Cambodia, Blinken said the US remains committed to its “One China” policy.

Besides keeping a close eye on Chinese military movements around the island, Taiwan also said it would strengthen security against cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.

Taiwan’s cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said in a Wednesday news conference that the government had enhanced security at key infrastructure points and increased the level of cybersecurity alertness across government offices.

Taiwan is anticipating increased “cognitive warfare,” referring to disinformation campaigns used to sway public opinion, Lo said.

This story has been updated with new information.

CNN’s Rob Picheta, Wayne Chang, Emi Jozuka and Eric Cheung contributed to this report.

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Taiwan decries China’s ‘illegitimate, irresponsible’ live-fire military drills

August 4, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Chinese military exercises, involving live-fire, begin
Suspected drones fly over outlying Taiwanese islands
Taiwan says several government websites hacked
China says it’s an internal affair

TAIPEI, Aug 4 (Reuters) – China launched unprecedented live-fire military drills in six areas that ring Taiwan on Thursday, a day after a visit by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled island that Beijing regards as its sovereign territory.

Soon after the scheduled start at 0400 GMT, China’s state broadcaster CCTV said the drills had begun and would end at 0400 GMT on Sunday. They would include live firing on the waters and in the airspace surrounding Taiwan, it said. read more

Taiwan officials have said the drills violate United Nations rules, invade Taiwan’s territorial space and are a direct challenge to free air and sea navigation.

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China is conducting drills on the busiest international waterways and aviation routes and that is “irresponsible, illegitimate behaviour,” Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party said.

Taiwan’s cabinet spokesman, expressing serious condemnation of the drills, said also that websites of the defence ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential office were attacked by hackers.

On Wednesday night, just hours after Pelosi left for South Korea, unidentified aircraft, probably drones, flew above the area of Taiwan’s outlying Kinmen islands near the mainland coast, Taiwan’s defence ministry said. read more

Major General Chang Zone-sung of the army’s Kinmen Defense Command told Reuters that the drones came in a pair and flew into the Kinmen area twice on Wednesday night, at around 9 p.m. (1300 GMT). and 10 p.m.

“We immediately fired flares to issue warnings and to drive them away. After that, they turned around. They came into our restricted area and that’s why we dispersed them,” he said.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and reserves the right to take it by force, said on Thursday its differences with the self-ruled island were an internal affair. read more

“Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces is reasonable, lawful,” China’s Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office said.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi called Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan a “manic, irresponsible and highly irrational” act bu the United States, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Wang, speaking at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said China had made the utmost diplomatic effort to avert crisis, but would never allow its core interests to be hurt.

The foreign ministers in a statement had earlier warned that volatility caused by tensions in the Taiwan Strait could lead to “miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”. read more

‘COMRADE PELOSI’

Unusually, the drills in six areas around Taiwan were announced with a locator map circulated by China’s official Xinhua news agency earlier this week – a factor that for some analysts and scholars shows the need to play to both domestic and foreign audiences. read more

On Thursday, the top eight trending items on China’s Twitter-like Weibo service were related to Taiwan, with most expressing support for the drills or fury at Pelosi.

“Let’s reunite the motherland,” several users wrote.

In Beijing, security in the area around the U.S. Embassy remained unusually tight on Thursday as it has been throughout this week. There were no signs of significant protests or calls to boycott U.S. products.

“I think this (Pelosi’s visit) is a good thing,” said a man surnamed Zhao in the capital’s central business district. “It gives us an opportunity to surround Taiwan, then to use this opportunity to take Taiwan by force. I think we should thank Comrade Pelosi.”

Pelosi, the highest-level U.S. visitor to Taiwan in 25 years, praised its democracy and pledged American solidarity during her brief stopover, adding that Chinese anger could not stop world leaders from travelling there.

China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing in protest against her visit and halted several agricultural imports from Taiwan.

“Our delegation came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear that we will not abandon Taiwan,” Pelosi told Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, who Beijing suspects of pushing for formal independence – a red line for China. read more

“Now, more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial, and that’s the message we are bringing here today.”

The United States and the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations warned China against using Pelosi’s visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said earlier in the week that Pelosi was within her rights to visit Taiwan, while stressing that the trip did not constitute a violation of Chinese sovereignty or America’s longstanding “one-China” policy.

The United States has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by American law to provide it with the means to defend itself.

China views visits by U.S. officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

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Reporting by Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Tony Munroe; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Pelosi pledges solidarity with Taiwan as China holds military drills, vents anger

August 3, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

TAIPEI, Aug 3 (Reuters) – China furiously condemned the highest-level U.S. visit to Taiwan in 25 years as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the self-ruled island as “one of the freest societies in the world” and pledged American solidarity.

Beijing demonstrated its anger with Pelosi’s presence on an island that it says is part of China with a burst of military activity in surrounding waters, summoning the U.S. ambassador in Beijing and halting several agricultural imports from Taiwan.

Some of China’s planned military exercises will take place within Taiwan’s 12 nautical mile sea and air territory, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry, an unprecedented move a senior defence official described to reporters as “amounting to a sea and air blockade of Taiwan”.

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Pelosi arrived with a congressional delegation on an unannounced visit late on Tuesday, defying China’s repeated warnings, in what she said shows unwavering U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s democracy.

“Our delegation came to Taiwan to make unequivocally clear that we will not abandon Taiwan,” Pelosi told Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. read more

“Now, more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial, and that’s the message we are bringing here, today.”

Addressing parliament, Pelosi said new U.S. legislation aimed at strengthening the American chip industry to compete with China “offers greater opportunity for U.S.-Taiwan economic cooperation.”

“We thank you for your leadership. We want the world to recognise that,” Pelosi told Tsai, who Beijing suspects of pushing for formal independence – a red line for China.

A long-time China critic, especially on human rights, Pelosi was set to meet later on Wednesday with a former Tiananmen activist, a Hong Kong bookseller who had been detained by China and a Taiwanese activist recently released by China, people familiar with the matter said.

The last U.S. house speaker to go to Taiwan was Newt Gingrich, in 1997. But Pelosi’s visit comes amid sharply deteriorating Sino-U.S. relations, and China has emerged as a far more powerful economic, military and geopolitical force during the past quarter century.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control. The United States warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.

In retaliation, China’s customs department announced a suspension of imports of citrus fruits, chilled white striped hairtail and frozen horse mackerel from Taiwan, while its commerce ministry banned export of natural sand to Taiwan.

MILITARY DRILLS

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi attends a meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan August 3, 2022. Taiwan Presidential Office/Handout via REUTERS

Pelosi’s visit, which has been blasted in official Chinese news outlets, was the dominant topic on China’s heavily censored social media, with many users urging Beijing to invade the island in retaliation and expressing dismay that military action had not been taken to block her arrival. A live-tracker of her plane on China’s WeChat was watched by 22 million.

China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform crashed just before Pelosi’s landing, which Weibo blamed on overstretched broadband capacity, without mentioning Taiwan.

Shortly after Pelosi’s arrival, China’s military announced joint air and sea drills near Taiwan and test launches of conventional missiles in the sea east of the island, with Chinese state news agency Xinhua describing live-fire drills and other exercises around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday.

China’s foreign ministry said Pelosi’s visit seriously damages peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, “has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Before Pelosi’s arrival, Chinese warplanes buzzed the line dividing the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese military said it was on high alert and will launch “targeted military operations” in response to Pelosi’s visit.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday after Pelosi’s arrival that the United States “is not going to be intimidated” by China’s threats or bellicose rhetoric and that there is no reason her visit should precipitate a crisis or conflict.

Kirby said China might engage in “economic coercion” toward Taiwan, adding that the impact on U.S.-China relations will depend on Beijing’s actions in coming days and weeks.

‘CHINA’S AMBITION’

The United States has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by American law to provide it with the means to defend itself. China views visits by U.S. officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island. Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

Taiwan’s cabinet on Wednesday said the military has increased its alertness level. The island’s defence ministry said 21 Chinese aircraft entered its air defence identification zone on Tuesday, and that China was attempting to threaten key ports and cities with drills in the surrounding waters.

“The so-called drill areas are falling within the busiest international channels in the Indo-Pacific region,” a senior Taiwan official familiar with its security planning told Reuters on Wednesday.

“We can see China’s ambition: to make the Taiwan Strait non-international waters, as well as making the entire area west of the first island chain in the western pacific its sphere of influence,” the person said.

(This story corrects spelling of Tiananmen in 12th paragraph; this error also occurred earlier in the series)

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Reporting by Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Stephen Coates

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

US and South Korea signal willingness to expand military drills in response to nuclear north

May 21, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

The move was a signal Biden was looking to break from President Donald Trump’s positions in Asia, where leaders were often left confounded by threats to withdraw US military support. Biden has used his first visit to the continent to reaffirm American commitment to the region, even as his focus has been pulled away by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In a joint statement, Biden and his counterpart, President Yoon Suk Yeol, wrote they would explore expanding “the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean Peninsula.”

Such exercises used to occur regularly, a show of military muscle as North Korea was developing its nuclear program and building ever-more-powerful missiles.

But Trump moved to end the large-scale military exercises, surprising even some of his own military officials by saying the drills were too costly and potentially too provocative as he sought to bring North Korea to the negotiating table. He was successful in meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un three times, but the hermit nation did not move to abandon its nuclear program.

Speaking Saturday, Biden declined to say whether he would be willing to meet with Kim, indicating only that such an encounter would depend on how genuine the despot’s intentions were.

“That would depend on whether he’s sincere and whether he’s serious,” Biden said, adding the US had offered Covid-19 vaccines to Pyongyang as it endures a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak but had not received a response.

The moves announced during Biden’s first full day in Asia were likely to draw an angry response from North Korea, even as they were meant to provide reassurance to US allies of the continued American imperative of upholding security in the region. Already, US officials had been bracing for South Korea’s belligerent northern neighbor to thrust itself into the conversation with a nuclear or missile test.

Both leaders affirmed in a joint press conference they were seeking the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and pledged to cooperate on confronting the North. Biden said he was committed to “further strengthening our deterrence posture.”

North Korea’s intensifying provocations had been expected to be at the center of Biden’s talks with South Korea’s new President, who took office a little more than a week ago and has signaled a tougher stance on Pyongyang than his predecessor.

Yet Biden also hoped to use the occasion of a new leader in Seoul to expand the US alliance with South Korea beyond just a security partnership defined by the North. Officials said in their first meeting, the US president was hoping to cultivate a willing economic partner who can also help advance collective security goals in the broader Asia-Pacific.

In their joint statement, the leaders reiterated the importance of “preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” rebutting China’s territorial advances and signaling a potential shift from South Korea, which maintains deep trade ties with Beijing. It was a indicator of Yoon’s more expansive vision of foreign policy and a welcome sign for Washington.

Both men hailed the importance of building more resilient supply chains separate from China and pledged greater cooperation on advanced technologies, like the microchips Biden observed being made when he visited a Samsung plant upon arriving in Asia on Friday.

“Our alliance between our countries is built upon shared sacrifice and a joint commitment to the freedom of the Republic of Korea and our firm opposition to changing borders by force,” Biden said during a portion of his talks that were opened to press.

“Today, with this visit, we’re taking the cooperation between our two countries to new heights,” Biden said.

Biden has long placed a premium on developing interpersonal ties with his foreign counterparts, and officials said he was looking to develop a strong relationship with Yoon. The two men met privately for a lengthy stretch before joining their delegations.

“We settled everything,” Biden joked after. Yoon said they had “engaged in a candid conversation building friendship and trust.”

Biden hopes to reassure his hosts in Seoul and Tokyo he remains committed to two of the most important US alliances, even as his attention has been consumed by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

US allies in Asia, as they do around the world, have looked to Biden to reaffirm traditional alliances as regional tensions boil over. But like elsewhere, questions linger about how durable Biden’s promises on security and trade can be, given Trump appears to be waiting in the wings for a third presidential run.

In Asia, the threat from North Korea has been put into stark relief as US officials warn the country could be preparing its seventh underground nuclear test or a launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The tests by dictator Kim Jong Un would insert North Korea squarely back into the global conversation after months of intensifying provocations. And it would underscore the stalled diplomacy between the United States and Pyongyang, despite attempts by Biden administration officials to restart talks.

US officials say they have prepared contingencies should a test occur.

Yoon, a former prosecutor who has never before held elective office, has signaled a tougher stance on North Korea, even as he looks to expand Seoul’s foreign policy beyond just dealing with its problematic northern neighbor. He campaigned as a staunch supporter of the US alliance, and has said he wants to see it strengthened, including on the economic front.

That is welcome news for Biden, who believes a strong network of allies in Asia can help counter China’s military and economic ambitions — just as a revived NATO alliance has isolated Russia for its invasion in Ukraine through packages of withering sanctions.

But just like in Europe, where dependence on Russian oil and gas has limited the effect of sanctions, a US reliance on China-made products poses concerns should Beijing’s military ambitions escalate further.

That was Biden’s message Friday while touring a Samsung factory making semiconductors, which have been in short supply after some Chinese plants were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a short speech, Biden tied together the chip shortage with the war in Ukraine, saying the US and its allies must reduce their dependence on essential items from autocratic regimes.

“Putin’s brutal and unprovoked war in Ukraine has further spotlighted the need to secure our critical supply chains so that our economy, our economic and our national security are not dependent on countries that don’t share our values,” Biden said.

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World

Alexander Lukashenko says Belarus military drills pose no threat

May 5, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko — Russia’s staunch ally — said he did not expect the war in Ukraine to “drag on this way.”

Lukashenko told the Associated Press on Thursday that he was doing “everything” he could to stop the 10-week-long conflict and that his own military’s sudden drills this week posed no threat to other countries.

“I want to stress one more time: I feel like this operation has dragged on,” he said in an interview in Minsk, accusing Ukraine and the United States of fueling the war.

The Belarusian leader, whose support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion has made him a target of more Western sanctions, allowed Russian troops to assemble for joint military drills in the Eastern European country in February, with Belarus serving as a staging ground for the war.

He cast himself as pivotal to talks between Moscow and Kyiv, which have yet to yield an agreement as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine.

“We have done and are doing everything now so that there isn’t a war,” Lukashenko told the AP. “Thanks to yours truly, me that is, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have begun.”

What role has Belarus played in the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

Lukashenko described the use of nuclear weapons as “unacceptable” but added that he could not answer as to whether the Kremlin had such plans.

“Not only is the use of nuclear weapons unacceptable because it’s right next to us — we are not across the ocean like the United States. It is also unacceptable because it might knock our terrestrial ball flying off the orbit to who knows where,” the AP report quoted him as saying. “Whether Russia is capable of that — is a question you need to ask the Russian leadership.”

He also called Putin his “big brother” and said the Russian president doesn’t have “closer, more open or friendlier relations with any of the world leaders other than the president of Belarus,” according to the AP.

Russian ally Belarus launches military quick-response drills

The latest drills in Belarus appear routine, according to Britain’s Defense Ministry, which said Thursday that it did not anticipate a threat, after Belarus announced that it was testing the military’s response to crises and counterthreats.

Washington also said earlier that it saw no signs of Belarus intending to get involved directly in Ukraine. “I don’t think we have a firm, clear assessment of the announcement of this exercise,” a U.S. defense official told reporters on the condition of anonymity under terms set by the Pentagon. “It could just be exercises.”

Lukashenko has said he does not plan to send his troops across the border into Ukraine to fight alongside Moscow’s forces. Some Belarusians who oppose his 28-year rule have joined the battle against Russian troops in Ukraine.

“We do not threaten anyone and we are not going to threaten,” the Belarusian president told the AP on Thursday. “To unleash some kind of a conflict, some kind of war here in the West is absolutely not in the interests of the Belarusian state. So the West can sleep peacefully.”

Amar Nadhir and Andrew Jeong contributed to this report.

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Sports

NFL Scouting Combine 2022 results: RBs, offensive linemen run 40-yard dash, compete in on-field drills

March 4, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

A deep running back class and the offensive linemen will be in the spotlight on the second day of the on-field workouts at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine.

The big names like Iowa State’s Breece Hall, Michigan State’s Ken Walker, and Texas A&M’s Isaiah Spiller will be put through the gamut on drills, so we’ll get a sense of how those three feature back types compare athletically. Looking forward to that.

In the trenches, we unfortunately won’t get to see Alabama’s Evan Neal run after decided to wait until his pro day on March 30 to demonstrate to everyone how much of an athletic freak he is at 337 pounds. At the podium earlier in the week, he looked like 227 pounds. No one carries that weight as well as he does.

Follow along tonight as we’ll be providing observations all evening.

Quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends competed on Thursday and if you want to catch up on what happened during Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine you can find that below.

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NFL Scouting Combine 2022 results: Live updates as QBs, WRs and TEs run 40-yard dash, compete in drills

March 3, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

After a year without it, the NFL Combine is back, and the players are ready to take to the field inside Lucas Oil Stadium to showcase their athletic talents to NFL GMs, scouts, head coaches, and millions of football fans around the world.

The quarterbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers will kick off the event. Some of the game’s most marquee positions on Thursday in primetime. I think the NFL knows what it’s doing. We’ll get most of the top prospects at those positions running the 40-yard dash and participating in the other combine drills tonight.

Follow along here as a bunch of our NFL Draft analysts chime in with their opinions, takeaways, and observations from the first day of workouts at the 2022 NFL Combine.

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NFL Scouting Combine 2022 results: RBs, offensive linemen run 40-yard dash, compete in on-field drills

NFL Scouting Combine 2022 results: Live updates as QBs, WRs and TEs run 40-yard dash, compete in drills

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