Taiwan avers 'We will not shrink' as Chinese military drills cross island for 1st time

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen reiterated the island's independence and pledged to handle all the "challenges" as China conducted its large-scale military drills for the second day in retaliation to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei. In a video address posted on Friday, Ing-wen said, "We are calm and not impetuous, we are rational and not provocative, but we will also be firm and not shirk. Taiwan will never be knocked down by challenges.”

Earlier, Taiwan labelled China as its “evil neighbour next door” who is showing off its power after the mainland launched large-scale military drills encircling Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island. When asked about China’s military drills launched two days after the arrival of Pelosi in Taipei, Su Tseng-chang, Taiwan's premier also said that Beijing is arbitrarily destroying the world’s most frequently used waterway with its drills which are expected to last for several days. 

Noting that China’s actions are prompting international condemnation, Su said, "We didn't expect that the evil neighbour next door would show off its power at our door and arbitrarily jeopardise the busiest waterways in the world with its military exercises."

It is to note that China’s military exercises which started on Thursday continued Friday with Beijing firing ballistic missiles and deploying both fighter jets and warships. Earlier, expressing anger over Pelosi’s unannounced visit to Taiwan, China had pledged that Washington would “pay the price” for “hurting” Beijing. Shortly after the verbal condemnations of the trip, China’s People's Liberation Army declared multiple no-go danger zones around Taiwan.

Missiles cross Taiwan in latest drill: Reports

Meng Xiangqing, a professor at China’s military-affiliated National Defence University, spoke with China’s state broadcaster CCTV and lauded the accuracy of Beijing’s military capabilities. He said, “Our exercises this time included live-firing tests, and it was the first time they crossed Taiwan island.” Meng also said that the military drills passed through airspace where Patriot missiles are heavily deployed. These Patriot missiles are highly mobile surface-to-air missile systems that are a key factor against Chinese warplanes.

Additionally, China’s Xinhua agency has separately reported that PLA “flew more than 100 warplanes including fighters and bombers” during the exercises, as well as “over 10 destroyers and frigates.” These full-scale military drills launched after Pelosi's visit to the island include the navy, air force, rocket force, strategic support force and logistic support force.\

Image: AP