Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) returned home from a meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the US and started a three-day military exercise in the form of an encirclement of Taiwan by China a day after returning home.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (left) and U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hold a joint press conference after meeting at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, on May 5 (local time). This is the first official meeting between the Taiwanese president and the U.S. House speaker in the United States. Simi Valley[미국] Reuters = Yonhap News
According to foreign media on the 8th, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Eastern Front Spokesperson Sui announced the start of the ‘Sharp Sword Combined Exercise’ on the same day and said, “This is a stern warning against collusion and provocation between ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces and external forces, and is a warning against national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” It is an essential action to safeguard integrity.”
At the same time, he said that combat readiness patrols and training would be carried out as planned “from the 8th to the 10th in the Taiwan Strait and the northern, southern and eastern parts of Taiwan Island, as well as in the sea and airspace.”
In this regard, Reuters reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense found that 42 Chinese military aircraft and eight vessels crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait this morning. The middle line of the Taiwan Strait is an unofficial boundary line declared by US Air Force General Benjamin Davis in 1955 after the US and Taiwan signed a mutual defense treaty in December 1954 to prevent military clashes between China and Taiwan.
China also conducted anti-ship air attack and electronic warfare simulations near the Bashi Strait, located between Taiwan and the Philippines, and conducted anti-submarine exercises, Reuters reported, citing Taiwanese security sources.
China’s latest training is interpreted as retaliation for President Tsai’s visit to Los Angeles, California (LA) on the 5th to meet Chairman McCarthy on his way home from a tour of Central America. It was the first high-level meeting between the two countries on US soil since the US and Taiwan severed diplomatic ties in 1979. Chairman McCarthy, third in the U.S. protocol, emphasized, “We must continue to sell weapons (to Taiwan) and have them reach Taiwan in a timely manner.”
President Tsai responded by saying, “(The United States) has reconfirmed that Taiwan is not alone,” and after arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on the evening of the 7th, “We will tell the international community that Taiwan will be more united in the face of pressure and threats. It has shown that we will never give in to oppression and will not stop interacting with the world because of obstacles.”
China, which had staged a high-intensity armed demonstration, including missile launches, when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August last year, seems to have started responding this time by selecting the time when French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to China (5-7 days) has ended. .
In a statement on the 6th, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said, “The Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests, and as the first ‘red line’ in Sino-US relations, Taiwan independence is incompatible with peace and stability on both sides of the Strait, like water and fire. It is a dead end road,” he warned. On the 7th, it announced sanctions against the Reagan Library and the Hudson Institute, which were involved in Taiwanese representative Xiao Mei-qin and President Tsai’s visit to the United States.
The Taiwanese side said it was closely monitoring the situation regarding the training of the Chinese military and would make every effort to safeguard national security and sovereignty.
According to CNN, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said on the same day, “In recent years, the CCP has repeatedly sent aircraft and ships to threaten the regional situation, and even uses President Tsai’s transit through the United States as an excuse for military exercises.” It seriously undermines stability and security.”
Taiwan’s defense ministry added that it would respond in a calm, rational and serious manner and would not seek to escalate the conflict.
Reporter Taeyoung Yoo [email protected]
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