Nancy Pelosi, center left, and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, center right, arrive at the president’s office in Taipei on August 3. Folla/Getty Images
Suspected drones flew over Taiwan’s outlying islands and hackers attacked the website of its defense ministry, Taipei authorities said Thursday, a day after a visit by the speaker of the United States House of Representatives United, Nancy Pelosi, who outraged China.
China was due to begin a series of military exercises around Taiwan on Thursday in response to Pelosi’s visit, some of which were to take place within the island’s 12-nautical-mile sea and air territory, according to the Ministry of Defense in Taipei.
This has never happened before and a senior ministry official described the potential move as “tantamount to a sea and air blockade of Taiwan”.
China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, said on Thursday that its differences with the self-ruled island were an internal matter.
“Our punishment against external forces and external pro-independence forces is reasonable, lawful,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said.
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China’s Xinhua news agency said the drills, which include live fire drills, will take place in six areas surrounding Taiwan and start at 0400 GMT.
On Wednesday night, just hours after Pelosi left for South Korea, unidentified aircraft, likely drones, had flown over the area of the Kinmen Islands, Taiwan’s defense ministry said.
Major General Chang Zone-sung of the military’s Kinmen Defense Command told Reuters that the drones arrived in pairs and flew over the Kinmen area twice on Wednesday night, around 9:00 p.m. ( 13:00 GMT). and at 10 p.m
“We immediately fired flares to issue warnings and chase them away. After that, they turned around. They entered our restricted area and that’s why we dispersed them,” he said.
The heavily fortified Kinmen Islands are located off the southeast coast of China near the city of Xiamen.
The defense ministry also said its website suffered cyber attacks and was temporarily offline on Wednesday night, adding that it was working closely with other authorities to improve cyber security as tensions with China rise.
Pelosi, the highest-level American visitor to Taiwan in 25 years, praised its democracy and pledged American solidarity during her brief stopover, adding that Chinese anger could not prevent world leaders travel there.
China summoned the US ambassador to Beijing and halted several agricultural imports from Taiwan.
Security in the area around the U.S. Embassy in Beijing remained unusually tight Thursday, as it has been throughout this week.
While Chinese social media users have unleashed fury against Pelosi, there were no signs of significant protests or calls to boycott American products.
Taiwan scrambled planes on Wednesday to warn 27 Chinese planes in its air defense zone, the island’s defense ministry said, adding that 22 of them crossed the median line separating the island from the china
Pelosi arrived with a congressional delegation for her unannounced but closely watched visit on Tuesday afternoon, defying repeated warnings from China and amid sharply deteriorating US-China relations.
“Our delegation came to Taiwan to make it very 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.
“Now more than ever, America’s solidarity with Taiwan is crucial, and that is the message we bring here today.”
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never given up using force to bring it under its control. The United States and Group of Seven foreign ministers warned China not to use the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.
“Unfortunately, Taiwan has been prevented from participating in global meetings, most recently the World Health Organization, due to objections from the Chinese Communist Party,” Pelosi said in a statement issued after her departure.
“While they can prevent Taiwan from sending its leaders to global forums, they cannot prevent world leaders or anyone from traveling to Taiwan to pay respect to its flourishing democracy, to highlight its many achievements, and to reaffirm our commitment to the continued collaboration,” Pelosi added. .
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday and pledged “ironclad” support for the island’s democracy.
Reuters
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