Tensions in Taiwan Spread to Japan
Held in six zones that encircle Taiwan, China's military drills are reported to be the largest so far in the Taiwan Strait.
Supporters hold a banner outside the hotel where U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is supposed to be staying in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Aug 2, 2022. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was believed headed for Taiwan on Tuesday on a visit that could significantly escalate tensions with Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its own territory.
Tensions in the Taiwan Strait amid China's military drills, triggered by United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, are feared to escalate. All parties need to refrain from this.
QINGDAO, KOMPAS — Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has ended her Asia visit, but she leaves behind a fire that could spark open conflict in the Asia Pacific. A day after her controversial visit to Taiwan, on Thursday (4/8/2022), the Chinese military held a military drill in the Taiwan Strait, marked by the firing of long-range conventional missiles, including the Dongfeng ballistic missile, off the coast of Taiwan.
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On the first of four days of scheduled Chinese military drills, tensions escalated. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said five Chinese ballistic missiles fell into the waters of Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). "To have five Chinese missiles fall within Japan's EEZ like this is a first," Kishi told reporters in Tokyo. "We have protested strongly through diplomatic channels."
The joint exercise involves the navy, air force, rocket troops, strategic support forces and joint logistical support forces in the sea and airspace of northern, southwest and southeast Taiwan.
Held in six zones that encircle Taiwan, China's military drills are reported to be the largest so far in the Taiwan Strait. The joint exercise involves the navy, air force, rocket troops, strategic support forces and joint logistical support forces in the sea and airspace of northern, southwest and southeast Taiwan.
An "effective Taiwan blockade," said the Hong Kong newspaper, The South China Morning Post, of China's military exercises. China's state news agency, Xinhua, reported that the joint drills focused on "blockade, attack on targets at sea, attack on ground targets and control over airspace."
Map showing disputed claims in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory. However, the island region has ruled independently since 1949. That year, communist leader Mao Zedong took control of Beijing after defeating the ousted Kuomintang (KMT) leader Chiang Kai-shek, who was later exiled and established the Taiwan government.
Chinese television CCTV reported that the country's military confirmed the repeated firing of conventional missiles off the coast of Taiwan. China deployed more than 100 aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, as well as more than 10 warships.
Taiwan has denounced China's missile launch in military drills. It said 11 Chinese ballistic missiles, the Dongfeng, were fired for the first time since 1996 into nearby waters. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen stressed that Taiwan would not provoke conflict, but would firmly defend national sovereignty and security.
In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left, and Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen gesture during a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting top officials in Taiwan despite warnings from China, said Wednesday that she and other congressional leaders in a visiting delegation are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island.
"This military exercise blockaded Taiwan's sea and air, affecting 17 international shipping lanes and 7 international ports from Taiwan. Several drills invaded Taiwan's territorial waters, adjacent territories and airspace," said the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta.
"This action is a serious violation of international law, endangering the peace and stability of the region and the Taiwan Strait."
ASEAN has issued an appeal. In it, all parties stated that all should refrain from provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait. This situation "could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflict and unpredictable consequences among the major powers," the ASEAN foreign ministers said in a statement.
‘Don't play with fire’
China's military exercises were triggered by Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday. Beijing had objected to the visit and warned the US "not to play with fire" over Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the military exercises were carried out because China had to hold "dialogue" with the US and Taiwan's "independence separatist forces" in "a language they can understand".
US law requires the government to assist in the event of a threat to Taiwan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that the US had violated China's sovereignty under the guise of democracy. "Those who play with fire will perish because of it and those who offend China will be punished," Wang told CGTN television on the sidelines of a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Cambodia on Wednesday.
To date, the US military has not intervened in tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Even so, the US has military bases and military assets that can be deployed to the region, including aircraft carriers. US law requires the government to assist in the event of a threat to Taiwan.
The Group of Seven countries have strongly condemned China's military exercises. They stated that there was no justification for using the visit as a pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait.
He admitted that the US had been in contact with China "through all levels of government" in recent days to call for efforts to maintain calm and stability.
At the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Phnom Penh, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Washington rejected all unilateral efforts to change Taiwan's status quo, particularly by force. He admitted that the US had been in contact with China "through all levels of government" in recent days to call for efforts to maintain calm and stability.
Disturbed waters
During the Chinese military exercise, a number of local maritime bureaus issued a navigational ban on commercial fleets in the area being targeted by military exercises. This is feared to disrupt global supply chains. Commercial ships are having to be diverted when the Taiwan Strait was blockaded and transportation costs rose by more than 15 to 20 percent.
In this photo released Dec. 31, 2021, by Xinhua News Agency, an undated photo shows a carrier-based J-15 fighter jet preparing to land on the Chinese navy's Liaoning aircraft-carrier during open-sea combat training. China is holding military exercises in the disputed South China Sea coinciding with U.S. President Joe Biden's visits to South Korea and Japan that are largely focused on countering the perceived threat from China.
Chairman of the Hong Kong Freight and Logistics Association Paul Tsui said, the Taiwan Strait played an important role in global supply chains, connecting major Asian economies, such as China, Japan, South Korea and India. Nearly half of the world's container ships pass through the Taiwan Strait this year.
While the situation is tense and looks like it is about to lead to warfare, observers do not believe China wants the situation to spiral out of control, at least for now. "I'm sure [Chinese President] Xi Jinping also doesn't want to be rash and trigger war," said Titus Chen, a political analyst at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan. (REUTERS/AFP/AP/SAM)
(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo)
