China military drills Taiwan

2022 - 8 - 5

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Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

China to start major military drills around Taiwan (Aljazeera.com)

State media frame military exercises in six areas around self-ruled island as war plan rehearsal.

“There is no justification to use a visit as a pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait,” a statement from the G7’s foreign ministers’ said. Beijing had threatened “serious consequences” if she went ahead with the visit. “It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally. “We immediately fired flares to issue warnings and to drive them away. “If the conventional missiles of the PLA were to be launched from the mainland toward the west of Taiwan and hit targets to its east, this means that the missiles would fly over the island, which is unprecedented,” the paper quoted another Chinese mainland military expert Zhang Xuefeng as saying. On Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense described China’s military activities as “irrational” and with the “intention of changing the status quo and undermining regional peace and stability”.

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Image courtesy of "Bloomberg"

Taiwan Braces for China Military Drills All Around Island (Bloomberg)

Taiwan braced for the Chinese military to start firing in exercises being held around the island in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit, ...

Live-fire drills in six areas surrounding the island began as planned at noon Thursday, Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television reported. The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command conducted long-range shooting drills in the Taiwan Strait around 1 p.m. on Thursday, CCTV said, adding that a “precise strike” was carried out in an unspecified area in the eastern part of the Taiwan Strait. It gave no other details.

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Image courtesy of "Reuters"

Taiwan decries China's 'illegitimate, irresponsible' live-fire military ... (Reuters)

TAIPEI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - China launched unprecedented live-fire military drills in six areas that ring Taiwan on Thursday, a day after a visit by U.S. ...

Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island's future. I think we should thank Comrade Pelosi." There were no signs of significant protests or calls to boycott U.S. products. They continue to harass us," the Taiwanese source said. read more read more

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Image courtesy of "Financial Times"

China unleashes wave of military drills around Taiwan after Nancy ... (Financial Times)

China said its armed forces have launched joint military exercises on an unprecedented scale in six areas ringing Taiwan on Thursday as Beijing seeks to ...

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

China's military drills around Taiwan threaten to upend global trade ... (CNN)

China's live-fire military drills around Taiwan are threatening to disrupt trade and commercial travel in East Asia, forcing vessels to reroute away from ...

The Port of Kaohsiung, located on the southwestern coastline, is the largest harbor in Taiwan and the 15th largest in the world, according to the World Shipping Council. Taiwan has seven major ports. Taiwan has said the military exercises are tantamount to a "maritime and aerial blockade" and have "violated Taiwan's territorial waters and its contiguous zone."

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Image courtesy of "Forbes"

'Illegitimate Behavior': China Carries Out Biggest-Ever Military Drills ... (Forbes)

The Chinese military on Thursday carried out missile strikes as part of its biggest-ever military drills surrounding Taiwan, just a day after a U.S. ...

China’s military drills were announced earlier this week in response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan where she met with the country’s leadership including President Tsai Ing-wen. Following her meeting with Tsai, Pelosi said her support for Taiwan was a choice between “democracy and autocracy” and added that the U.S. was determined to “preserve democracy” in Taiwan and the rest of the world. While such a move or even a more drastic full scale invasion of Taiwan remains unlikely due to the slowing Chinese economy, the report notes that there are fears that the proximity of the drills to the island could cause an unintended incident that could lead to an escalation. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was the most high-profile trip to the island by a U.S. official since a 1997 tour by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Last week, President Joe Biden spoke with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in an official phone call where he reiterated Washington’s position on Taiwan—stating it had not changed and the U.S. does not support Taiwanese independence. According to the New York Times, there are some concerns within Washington that China’s military drills around Taiwan could slowly morph into a longer term blockade of the island that could last several weeks or even months. Beijing, which views the U.S.’s actions as meddling in its internal affairs, issued a readout after the call saying “those who play with fire will perish by it.” The live firings were part of a set of high-stakes military drills—China’s biggest ever in the region—by the Chinese military in six locations encircling Taiwan.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

China fires missiles near waters off Taiwan as live-fire drills intensify ... (CNN)

China fired multiple missiles toward waters near northeastern and southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, the island's Defense Ministry said, as Beijing makes good ...

China issued a map showing six zones around Taiwan that would be the site of drills in coming days. Earlier, the Eastern Theater Command said it had conducted long-range, live-fire training in the Taiwan Strait, state broadcaster CCTV reported, as part of planned military exercises around the island. This exercise is not that," he said. Flights will resume on Sunday. Later Thursday, images showed military helicopters flying past Pingtan island, one of Taiwan's closest points to mainland China. "In particular, a training area has been set up in the waters near Japan, and if China were to conduct live ammunition exercises in such an area, it could affect the security of Japan and its people," Matsuno said. But on Thursday, Taiwan's Maritime and Port Bureau said in a notice that China had added a seventh military exercise area for ships and aircraft to avoid "in the waters around eastern Taiwan." "We are closely monitoring enemy activities around the sea of Taiwan and that of outlying islands, and we will act appropriately," the ministry said in a statement. "The official announcement (of the blockade) refers to just a few days, which would make it hard to qualify it on practical terms to a blockade," said Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King's College in London. On Thursday, Taiwan's Defense Ministry said its military was remaining in a "normal" but wary posture, and called the live-fire drills an "irrational act" that attempted to "change the status quo." Taiwan reported Chinese long-range rockets had fallen near its islands of Matsu, Wuqiu, Dongyin, which are in the Taiwan Strait, but located closer to the mainland than the main island of Taiwan. It later said a total of 11 Dongfeng (DF) missiles were fired to the waters north, south and east of the island between 1:56 p.m. and 4 p.m. local time (from 1:56 a.m. ET to 4 a.m. ET) on Thursday. The Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command said in a statement that multiple missiles had been fired into the sea off the eastern part of Taiwan. It said all the missiles hit their target accurately.

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Image courtesy of "CNBC"

Taiwan stocks shake off China's military drills to rise 2%; Asia shares ... (CNBC)

Taiwan stocks shake off China's military drills to rise 2%; Asia shares trade higher ... SINGAPORE — Taiwan shares led gains in Asia-Pacific markets as investors ...

That's fewer than the 372,000 added in June. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.41% to 12,720.58. He pointed to underlying inflation risks and a hawkish Fed. The Reserve Bank of India announced that it would raise rates by 50 basis points to 5.4%. Friday's jobs report is expected to show that 258,000 jobs were added in the U.S. last month, according to Dow Jones economist estimates. After the announcement, the Nifty 50 was 0.28% higher and BSE Sensex in India rose 0.34%. Overnight in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 85.68 points, or 0.26%, to 32,726.82. The S&P 500 was about flat at 4,151.94 at the close. - The Reserve Bank of India announced that it would raise rates by 50 basis points to 5.4%. Markets appear unfazed by China's drills around Taiwan, though Japan's Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Chinese missiles landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone and called the military drills a "serious problem," according to an NBC News report. - Japan Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Chinese missiles landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone and called the military drills a "serious problem," according to an NBC News report. In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.87% and the Kosdaq added 0.84% The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.78% and the Topix index gained 0.75%.

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Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

'Highly provocative': China military drills resume around Taiwan (Aljazeera.com)

Taiwan says monitoring situation after multiple Chinese ships and aircraft crossed median line in Taiwan Strait.

“It is bipartisan in the House and in the Senate, overwhelming support for peace and the status quo in Taiwan.” Al Jazeera’s Florence Looi, who is in the Cambodian capital, described the mood at the meeting as “tense” and that the situation around Taiwan had overshadowed discussions that were expected to focus on the worsening crisis in Myanmar. The ministry said China’s military activities were “highly provocative” and that it was monitoring the “enemy situation” closely.

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Image courtesy of "The Straits Times"

Airlines cancel, reroute flights during Chinese military drills near ... (The Straits Times)

SEOUL (REUTERS) - Some airlines have cancelled flights to Taipei and rerouted others using nearby airspace that has been closed to civilian traffic during ...

Emirates was still scheduled to fly to Taipei on Friday, according to its website. Japan's ANA and Japan Airlines are still operating flights to Taipei as normal, spokespeople for the airlines said, but are avoiding the affected airspace on those flights, as well as on routes to Hong Kong and South-east Asia. The airspace involved is comparatively small, but the disruption is hampering travel between South-east Asia and Northeast Asia.

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Image courtesy of "Reuters"

China's military drills near Taiwan disrupt key shipping lanes (Reuters)

China's military exercises in the waters around Taiwan have prompted some ships to navigate around the Taiwan Strait and give the island a wide berth, ...

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Image courtesy of "The Straits Times"

'Shut the door and beat the dog': Chinese drills a simulation of ... (The Straits Times)

The military exercises are also a thinly veiled threat against those pushing for formal independence of Taiwan. Read more at straitstimes.com.

But this has been changing over the past two years, as incursions across the median line by PLA air force jets have become more common. But under its Taiwan Relations Act, Washington is obliged to provide the island with the means to defend itself. State news agency Xinhua said more than 100 aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, and over 10 warships have been activated. Both the scale and proximity of the exercises are unprecedented. It will also stop external forces from interfering," said Professor Meng Xiangqing of the National Defence University, an institution administered by China's People's Liberation Army (PLA). The zone south-east of Taiwan could be used to blockade the Bashi Channel, a key waterway through which ships must pass to enter the South China Sea.

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