China’s People’s Liberation Army announced military drills at positions in Taiwan just hours after Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, touched down.
Joint maritime and air drills began Tuesday evening, with live fire exercises scheduled from Aug. 4-7 after Pelosi departs from the contested island, state-run Global Times reported. Six locations will host live fire drills. This could be a practice run in preparation for eventual attempts to take full control of Taiwan.
This action targets the US’s recent shocking major escalation in the Taiwan matter and serves as an important warning to Taiwanese independence force or those who seek independence,” Shi Yi said, speaking for PLA’s Eastern Theater Command. Global Times reports that Stealth fighter jets flew from China’s mainland on Tuesday night. Gu Zhong, the Eastern Theater Command’s deputy chief of staff, said China was “making preparations for all crises.”
PLA will conduct important military exercises and training activities including live-fire drills in six regions surrounding the Taiwan island from Thursday to Sunday pic.twitter.com/k9q1WEDsyF
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 2, 2022
Pelosi’s flight landed at 10: 43 p.m. local time at Songshan Airport in Taipei amid escalating Chinese warnings and reports of military activity near Taiwan. Taiwan’s defense ministry said 21 Chinese warplanes violated Taiwan’s air defense identification zone Tuesday, CNN reported. (RELATED: REPORT: Pelosi Is Heading To Taiwan Despite Looming Threats Of War)
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng met with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns late Tuesday to protest against the “extremely vicious” nature of Pelosi’s visit, accusing the U.S. of supporting Tawianese independence, Xinhua reported.
China will take every necessary step to protect its sovereignty, territorial integrity and territory in the wake of the US Speaker’s trip. Global Times reports that the US Speaker and the separatist ‘Taiwan independence forces’ must bear all the consequences.
“The announced PLA drills, likely to be larger in scale than the one in the 1996 Taiwan Straits crisis, serve not only as warnings to the US and ‘Taiwan independence’ secessionists, but also as rehearsals for the PLA to reunify the island by force,” the Global Times reported, citing experts.
Tensions flared between China and Taiwan in 1996 after the U.S. granted former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui permission to visit the U.S. on an unofficial basis, the first time a Taiwanese leader had traveled to the U.S., according to Axios. In response, China deployed over 100,000 troops to the Fujian province bordering the Taiwan Strait and conducted missile tests that came dangerously close to striking Taiwanese target
Pelosi’s office and the Chinese foreign and defense ministries did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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