Tensions between China and Taiwan escalated on Friday as Beijing directed warships and aircraft towards the island in a second day of military drills.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said Chinese forces crossed the halfway point between the island and the mainland in what it called a “highly provocative act”. It came as Japan reported that four Chinese missiles had flown over Taiwan in the first day of military exercises in retaliation at US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.
Japan added that a further five missiles fired towards its territory landed in its exclusive economic zone for the first time, prompting Tokyo to launch a diplomatic protest.
The missiles were believed to be high in the atmosphere and constituted no threat to the public, according to Taiwan.
Taiwan premier Su Tseng-chang did not directly respond to questions about the military posturing today, but referred to China as the “evil neighbour showing off her power at our door”.
The drills are due to continue until noon on Sunday. China’s leader Xi Jinping has said its relations with Taiwan are an internal matter.
Ms Pelosi, now in Japan, said China could not isolate Taiwan by preventing Western officials from travelling there.“This visit isn’t about me, it’s about Taiwan,” she said.
“We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region,” she added at a news conference after meeting Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.
The UK’s Foreign Secretary and Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss reiterated her support for Taiwan and the UK’s obligation to defend it. During a Sky News debate last night, she was asked if Britain should start arming Taiwan amid the increasing tensions with China and said the UK already licenses army equipment to go to the region.
“What we do need to make sure is that democracies like Taiwan are defended,” she added.
“I put out a statement with my fellow G7 foreign ministers about the very difficult situation in Taiwan and concern about the rhetoric that we are hearing from China, the escalatory rhetoric. Of course, we have a very, very secure control system for exports in the United Kingdom. And we do license exports to Taiwan at the moment.”
Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based Asia security specialist, described ballistic missiles being fired over Taiwan as “unprecedented” and warned: “In my view, the larger threat is that China is doing a rehearsal for a blockade of Taiwan’s ports and airports,”
