China set to wrap up largest-ever Taiwan military drills

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Aug 08:29
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China is poised to conclude its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan on Sunday, following US House House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to the island.

China is set to wrap up the largest-ever Taiwan military drills.

China is poised to conclude its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan on Sunday, following US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to the island.

Beijing was infuriated with Pelosi's trip, as a result of which it ripped up a series of negotiations and cooperation agreements with Washington.

It has also placed fighter jets, cruisers, and ballistic missiles around Taiwan.

Those drills are expected to conclude on Sunday, but Beijing has announced new drills in the Yellow Sea, which lies between China and the Korean peninsula, that will take place until August 15.

China sent "multiple batches" of planes and ships into the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, according to Taipei authorities, with some crossing a demarcation line that Beijing does not recognize.

"They were judged to be conducting a simulation of an attack on Taiwan's main island," Taipei said.

According to the government, the island's military responded by mobilizing air and land patrols and deploying land-based missile systems.

Taiwan's army reported at 5:00 pm local time (0900 GMT) that "20 Communist planes and 14 ships were detected in the waters around Taiwan conducting joint air-sea exercises."

Beijing responds

Beijing's military published a video of an air force pilot shooting the island's shoreline and mountains from his cockpit to demonstrate how close China's forces have been coming to Taiwan's coastlines.

The Chinese army's Eastern Command also published a photo of a cruiser patrolling the seas near Taiwan, with the island's shoreline visible in the backdrop.

According to Chinese official media, the drills reportedly included Beijing firing ballistic missiles over Taiwan's capital.

China turns its back on the world

The scale and intensity of China's drills, as well as Beijing's withdrawal from important climate and security discussions, have sparked alarm in the US and other democracies.

In a meeting with his Philippine counterpart on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that Washington was "determined to act responsibly" to avert a major global crisis.

China should not hold talks on global concerns like climate change "hostage", according to Blinken, because it punishes the globe, not the United States.

The United Nations has also urged the two countries to continue cooperating for the good of the entire planet.

"For the secretary-general, there is no way to solve the most pressing problems of all the world without an effective dialogue and cooperation between the two countries," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.