HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP
A Chinese military helicopter flies over Pingtan Island, one of the closest points to mainland China from Taiwan, in Fujian province on August 4, 2022.
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INTERNATIONAL – China fired missiles this Thursday, August 4, which would have flown over Taiwan and would have fallen for the first time in the Japanese exclusive economic zone, on the first day of military exercises of an unprecedented scale around Taiwan, in response to the visit of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in Taipei.
Washington has accused Beijing of having “chosen to overreact” to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and warned that her aircraft carrier USS Reagan would continue to ” to watch “ around the island, while announcing that it had postponed an intercontinental missile test to avoid aggravating the crisis.
“China chose to overreact and used the visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives as a pretext to increase its provocative military operations in and around the Taiwan Strait”said White House spokesman for strategic issues John Kirby.
The USS Reagan aircraft carrier “will remain in operation in the area to monitor the situation”he said, adding: “We will not be deterred from operating in the seas and skies of the Western Pacific in accordance with international law, as we have done for decades, defending Taiwan and a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi called on Thursday to “immediate stop” Chinese military maneuvers.
“China’s actions this time have a serious impact on peace and stability in the region. I call for the immediate cessation of these military maneuvers” he told reporters in Phnom Penh, where he was attending a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
For their part, the Foreign Ministers of the ten member countries of ASEAN, meeting at the summit, warned against “any provocative act”. The situation can escalate and cause “a serious confrontation, open conflicts between the main powers and unforeseeable consequences”they warned in a press release.
Despite firm warnings from Beijing, which considers Taiwan as one of its provinces, Nancy Pelosi, one of the highest American officials, had stayed on the island on Tuesday and Wednesday, before starting a visit to Japan on Thursday, the last stage of his Asian tour.
Nancy Pelosi’s initiative is seen by China as a provocation, support for Taiwan independence supporters and a reneging on the United States’ promise not to have official relations with the island.
Japan protest
In response, the Chinese military launched a series of missiles that flew over Taiwan before falling for the first time in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the guise of military exercises in six sea zones around Taiwan, at busy trade routes and sometimes only 20 kilometers from the Taiwanese coast.
Four of the five Chinese ballistic missiles that fell in Japan’s EEZ “would have flown over the island of Taiwan”the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday.
Calling the incident a “serious problem that affects our national security and that of our citizens”the Japanese Defense Minister, Nobuo Kishi, specified that “Japan had lodged a protest with China through diplomatic channels”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for his part, stressed that Washington had made contact with Beijing “at all levels of government” these last few days to call for calm.
“I really hope that Beijing will not provoke a crisis and seek an excuse to increase its aggressive military operations”he told his colleagues at the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh.
However, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who is taking part in the summit just like his American counterpart Antony Blinken, has accused Washington of being at the origin of the crisis, having made itself responsible for a “blatant provocation” establishing “an odious precedent”.
“If no measures were taken to correct and counter it, what would become of the principle of non-interference in internal affairs? Could international law still be respected? How could peace be preserved in the region? »he added on the sidelines of the summit.
Twenty-two Chinese fighter jets briefly entered the Taiwanese air defense zone on Thursday, Taiwan’s defense minister said during a briefing on Chinese military maneuvers.
[ 🇨🇳 CHINE | 🇹🇼 TAÏWAN ]
🔸 22 Chinese aircraft entered the Taiwanese air zone today: • x8 Shenyan… https://t.co/N58rcTdRHw
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank)
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Air defense systems actively tracked Chinese planes, it added on its website.
Shot and detonation
The maneuvers, which began this Thursday at noon, included “conventional missile fire” to waters off the east coast of Taiwan, said Shi Yi, a spokesman for the Chinese military.
“All missiles hit their target accurately, testing precision strike and access denial capabilities” to the area, he said in a statement.
condemning “irrational actions that undermine regional peace”the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Chinese army had fired « 11 missiles » Dongfeng-type ballistics “between 1.56 p.m. and 4 p.m. in waters north, south and east of Taiwan”.
In Pingtan, a Chinese island located not far from the maneuvers in progress, AFP journalists witnessed this Thursday afternoon the firing of several projectiles, which flew into the sky after detonations, leaving behind plumes of White smoke.
At the closest location in mainland China to Taiwan, reporters also spotted five low-flying military helicopters near a seaside tourist spot. Chinese military drills are due to end at noon on Sunday.
According to the Chinese newspaper Global Timeswhich quotes military analysts, these maneuvers are of a magnitude ” unprecedented “.
“If the Taiwanese forces voluntarily come into contact with (the Chinese army) and accidentally fire a shot, (the Chinese army) will respond vigorously and it will be up to the Taiwanese side to bear all the consequences”told AFP an anonymous military source within the Chinese army.
For Beijing, these maneuvers are “a necessary and legitimate measure” after Nancy Pelosi’s visit. “In the face of malicious provocations that so blatantly infringe on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, our countermeasures are justified.”said Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Thursday.
The exercises aim to simulate a “blockade” of the island and include “the assault of targets at sea, the striking of targets on the ground and the control of airspace”according to the official New China agency.
See also on Le HuffPost : Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan despite warnings from China
