Taiwan fires flares at Chinese drones as a warning

conflict zone

China has been conducting military exercises near Taiwan in recent days.

(Photo: IMAGO/Xinhua)

Taipei China continued its large-scale maneuvers around Taiwan on Saturday. Chinese military aircraft and warships continued to test the Taiwanese armed forces. The day before alone, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in Taipei had sent a “record number” of 68 military machines and 13 naval ships into waters near the democratic island republic, as reported by the Taipei Foreign Ministry.

Many of them also crossed the unofficial but most respected median line in the 130-kilometer-wide Taiwan Strait strait that separates the mainland and Taiwan. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Jason Wu tweeted that “this dangerous military escalation in the military threat is destroying peace and stability in the region”.

Taiwan, meanwhile, closed with flares warning of Chinese drones flying over Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands, two kilometers off the coast of China. Other flares were used to warn unidentified aircraft over the Matsu Islands. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense in Taiwan on Saturday.

Both Taiwanese archipelagos lie just off the coast of mainland China. The ministry said its troops were on high alert in both areas.

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During the maneuvers on Thursday, China also launched eleven ballistic missiles in the direction of Taiwan, one of which, according to reports, even flew directly over Taiwan and not far from the capital Taipei for the first time. Five landed east of Taiwan in nearby Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which was also taken as a warning to Tokyo to stay out of the conflict.

China had launched the maneuvers announced by Sunday in response to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. It was the highest-ranking visit from the United States in a quarter of a century. China is angry because it claims Taiwan as its own. It sees the island as part of the People’s Republic and vehemently rejects official contacts with other countries. However, the island has long seen itself as independent.

As a further reaction, China suspended dialogue with the US on climate protection and through various military channels. Other forms of cooperation, such as in the fight against crime, drugs and the repatriation of people who have entered the country illegally, have also been canceled entirely. Additionally, Beijing imposed unspecified sanctions on Pelosi and even immediate family members. China’s leadership accuses her of “seriously interfering in internal affairs”.

More: “Vicious” and “provocative”: China imposes sanctions on US leader Nancy Pelosi

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