Warships sail at close quarters in final hours of exercises as White House calls Beijing’s actions ‘irresponsible’
China has wrapped up its unprecedented four days of drills that showcased Beijing’s growing military prowess and determination to challenge what it called “any attempt to separate Taiwan from China”, after the controversial visit to the island democracy last week by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi’.over Taiwan’s capital city, Taipei, for the first time.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had detected 66 Chinese air force planes and 14 Chinese warships conducting activities in and around the Taiwan strait on Sunday.While Chinese forces “pressed” the line , as they had on Saturday, the Taiwan side stayed close to monitor and, where possible, deny the Chinese the ability to cross.
The Chinese exercises, centred on six zones around the island, began on Thursday and were scheduled to last until midday on Sunday. China’s military said on Saturday it was conducting sea and air joint exercises north, south-west and east of Taiwan, with a focusA White House spokesperson said: “These activities are a significant escalation in China’s efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible and raise the risk of miscalculation.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, accused China of taking “irresponsible” steps and moving away from prioritising peaceful resolution towards the use of force. “The world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy,” she said. She also stressed that her trip was “not about changing the status quo in Taiwan or the region”.
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