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Updated August 7th, 2022 at 16:34 IST

China defends military exercises near Taiwan; says 'US should've stopped Pelosi's visit'

China's foreign ministry spokesperson accused the US of meddling in Beijing's internal affairs and said that Washington should've stopped Pelosi's Taiwan visit.

Reported by: Aparna Shandilya
China
Image: AP | Image:self
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Chinese diplomats continue to blame the United States and accuse Washington of creating chaos in the region. China's foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, accused the US of meddling in Beijing's internal affairs on August 5. Chunying also stated that the US should have cancelled Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan last week.

She went on to say that the US should stop trying to undermine the one-China policy. It is worth mentioning here that it refers to a 1970s agreement under which countries can maintain formal diplomatic relations with either China or Taiwan, but not both.

China announced on August 4 that it would sanction US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her visit to Taiwan, as well as cancel or suspend eight key dialogue mechanisms with the US. The measures came as the Chinese military continued its live-fire drills in six regions surrounding Taiwan for the second day. The military exercises, which have effectively blocked the waters and airspace in the six regions and caused significant disruptions to shipping and flights to Taiwan, will last until August 7.

China-US relations post-Pelosi's Taiwan visit

Additionally, the visit has had broader implications for China-US relations. In response to China's military drills, which have seen the Chinese military fire missiles over Taiwan for the first time and conduct some drills within 12 nautical miles off the Taiwanese coast, Washington announced on August 4 that it had summoned the Chinese envoy, Qin Gang, and issued a demarche.

Beijing announced that it would suspend five additional channels and axe three major bilateral military dialogue mechanisms. A meeting of theatre commanders, talks on defence policy coordination, and discussions under the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) were all cancelled, underscoring the further erosion of trust between the two militaries and the closing of channels meant to improve communication.

Beijing announced that it would also halt bilateral discussions on climate change as well as cooperation on the return of undocumented immigrants, legal aid in criminal cases, transnational crimes, and drug enforcement. Taiwan's Military of National Defence, meanwhile, described the crossing of the median line as "highly provocative" after tracking 13 Chinese naval vessels and 68 PLA aircraft. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called it "dangerous" and "irresponsible" to launch missiles into some of the busiest transportation corridors in the world in a televised speech.

(Image: AP)

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Published August 7th, 2022 at 16:34 IST

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