China has begun its retaliation against Washington by announcing on Friday the cancellation of a series of meetings with the United States, suspending issues on which it was working bilaterally with the United States, including related to military dialogue, a change in the climate and anti-drug projects. Most important among these at the moment Washington has expressed concern that “the risk of a mistake could lead to some kind of conflict” (in the words of John Kirby on Thursday) – is the cancellation of military relations.
This comes in addition to the unveiling of unspecified sanctions against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the “tremendous provocation” of her overnight trip to Taiwan earlier in the week, which saw China respond immediately with ongoing live-fire drills that have surrounded the island self-controlled, as well as firing ballistic missiles in the vicinity.
The foreign ministry said in a statement, “Disregarding China’s strong opposition and serious representations, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region,” and issued the following countermeasures in response:
Among the most direct threatening actions to date are the PLA military firing ballistic missiles over Taiwan; however, Taipei refused on Wednesday to confirm in fact a direct flight over the island, despite many international reports reporting such.
Meanwhile, on the “dialogue” climate…
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Literally hundreds of Chinse military aircraft and ships have also buzzed or breached Taiwan-claimed airspace and waters at this point, as the largest drills in recent history continue to escalate. After Beijing declared that the “median line” had all but ended, dozens of planes have crossed what conventionally defined the democratically-run island’s territorial waters.
Taiwan said in a defense ministry statement that about 20 Chinese military aircraft briefly crossed Taiwan’s central line on Friday morning, according to Reuters.
Pelosi said while in Japan on Friday, the last stop of her Asia tour, “The Chinese did their strikes, probably using our visit as an excuse.” He added: “They might try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places but they won’t isolate Taiwan. They don’t make our travel schedule, the Chinese government doesn’t.”
He then underlined that the United States will not let China isolate Taiwan, stressing, “We had high-level visits, senators in the spring, the bipartisan way, continuous visits, and we will not allow them to isolate Taiwan.”
This is similar to the assessment of the spokesman for the US National Security Council, John Kirby, given on Thursday, where he accused Beijing of overreacting. “We condemn these actions, which are irresponsible and contrary to our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,” Kirby told reporters at a White House briefing. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as an excuse to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.”
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