The Chinese and Taiwanese naval warships have been going head to head as China conducted large-scale live fire drills and military exercises around Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Around 10 warships each from both countries sailed at close distance and Taiwan accused the Chinese of crossing the ‘median line’ (an unofficial buffer separating the two sides). The Chinese provoked the island by firing 11 ballistic missiles around its waters.
The island’s defence ministry said in a release multiple Chinese military ships, aircraft, and drones were simulating attacks on the island and its navy. It said it had sent aircraft and ships to react “appropriately”.
The Taiwanese side claimed that the Chinese forces had “pressed” the line on Saturday. The Taiwanese stayed closed and monitored every move and tried to deny the crossing of the line.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence stated on Saturday that its forces have scrambled fighters to warn and intercept the 20 aircraft that including the 14 that crossed the median line.
The Chinese exercises which were held in 6 locations around the island started on Thursday and were scheduled to end on Sunday according to a Chinese state-run news agency, Xinhua News.
The United States views these exercises as escalation and deployed around 5 carrier battle groups to prevent any misadventure by the Chinese.
“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,” a White House spokesperson said.
“They are also at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, which is what the world expects.”
Soon after Pelosi and her delegation left Japan on Friday, concluding her week-long Asia tour, China announced that they would be ending talks and communication with the US which included contacts between theatre-level military commanders, transnational crime and climate change.