China suspended a series of coordination measures with the United States (US) as part of its continued countermeasures against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
In a press release on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that it is taking strict countermeasures to express its “strong opposition” to the high-level visit, cancelling the: Theatre Commanders Talk, Defence Policy Coordination Talks (DPCT), and the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) meetings. It also suspended cooperation regarding the repatriation of illegal immigrants, legal assistance in criminal matters, transnational crimes, counternarcotics, and climate change.
Foreign Minister (FM) Wang Yi also once again expressed his displeasure at Pelosi’s “reckless move,” which he said “seriously undermined” China’s sovereignty and “jeopardised peace and stability” across the Taiwan Strait.
“It is only natural that China makes a firm response. Our position is justified, reasonable and legal; our measures are firm, strong and measured,” Wang told reporters after the foreign ministers’ meetings on East Asia cooperation in Phnom Penh.
🚨🇨🇳🇹🇼China now has #Taiwan surrounded from air and the sea as it gears up to start the next round of military drill "exercise". pic.twitter.com/G1COrKUVnW
— Terror Alarm (@terror_alarm) August 7, 2022
Referring to the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) ongoing military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, Wang said that they are “consistent with domestic and international laws,” and “aimed at sending a warning to the perpetrator and punishing the “Taiwan independence” forces.”
“We will…resolutely stop the United States’ attempt to use the Taiwan card to contain China, and firmly shatter the Taiwan authorities’ illusion to pursue Taiwan independence by soliciting the support of the United States,” he assured.
“If the principle of non-interference is ignored and discarded, the world will return to the law of the jungle, and the United States will become even more unscrupulous in treating and bullying other countries, especially small and medium-sized countries, from a position of strength,” he further warned.
China's military drills are transparent, professional. They abide by domestic and international laws as well as international practice. They aim to warn those who caused trouble, and punish Taiwan secessionists, FM said, commenting on the #PLA's Mon drills around #Taiwan island. pic.twitter.com/2YroDOLDj1
— Zhang Meifang张美芳 (@CGMeifangZhang) August 8, 2022
Wang also said that Taiwan’s “return to the motherland” is inevitable, despite the US and Taiwan’s “wishful thinking.” He reiterated during his visit to Bangladesh on Sunday that China would “crush Taiwan authorities’ illusion of “seeking U.S. support for their independence agenda.”
Defending China’s response to the provocation, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said during her regular press conference on Friday that China “acted in legitimate self-defence” after the US made an “egregious provocation,” accusing Washington of “arrogance, selfishness, and hypocrisy.”
She stressed that China would not allow the US to become a “world policeman” or an “international judge,” and claimed that it has the support of over 160 countries that have denounced Pelosi’s visit.
#Latest If no new restriction zones are set for the additional drills, it is because they will not endanger normal civilian activities, likely without live-fire shooting, experts said. #Taiwan
— Zhang Meifang张美芳 (@CGMeifangZhang) August 8, 2022
She added that if Washington “truly cared about regional peace and stability,” it should have “tried to dissuade Pelosi early on.”
In a similar vein, China’s Ambassador to the US, Qin Gang, wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post that Pelosi’s visit was “extremely irresponsible, provocative and dangerous,” and was “a broader attempt to unilaterally change the status quo on Taiwan and alter the postwar international order.”
He posed the rhetorical question: “Just think: If an American state were to secede from the United States and declare independence, and then some other nation provided weapons and political support for that state, would the U.S. government — or the American people — allow this to happen?”
Comments from the Chinese officials come as the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command continues its joint combat training exercises in the waters and airspace around Taiwan. Its exercise on Sunday focused on testing the capabilities of using joint fires to strike land and long-range air targets. It deployed various types of warplanes, including early warning aircraft, bombers, jamming aircraft, fighter-bombers and fighter jets.
Furthermore, the country’s Maritime Safety Administration on Saturday announced five exclusion zones in the Yellow Sea where it will hold exercises from August 5 to 15. It also announced an additional four zones in the Bohai Sea, where military operations will take place for a month starting Monday.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on Sunday reported spotting 14 PLA vessels and 66 PLA aircraft, with 22 of the aircraft flying on the eastern part of the median line of the Taiwan Strait and the southwest Air Defense Identification Zone.