Tensions high as Taiwan begins live-fire drills and China continues military exercises it started after US speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last week
, including the firing of ballistic missiles, were “clearly trying to deter other countries from interfering in its attempt to invade Taiwan”, and also showed that it had much broader geostrategic intentions.Beijing has declared ownership of the Taiwan strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and aims to influence the international community’s freedom of travel, by controlling the stretch of water and linking the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, he said.
“Its intentions are not likely to end there,” he said, noting the security agreement with Solomon Islands, and China’s influence across the Pacific, south-east Asia, Africa and Latin America.Photograph: Ritchie B Tongo/EPA “China’s continued attempt to intimidate Taiwan will not panic us, nor will they defeat us. The values of freedom and democracy cannot be taken away.”
Pelosi defended her trip on Tuesday as “absolutely” worth it. “We cannot allow the Chinese government to isolate Taiwan,” she told the US broadcaster NBC. “They’re not going to say who can go to Taiwan.”On Tuesday Reuters reported Chinese Navy vessels continued to run missions off Taiwan’s east coast. Median line crossings by PLA warplanes also continued overnight.
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