On the night of the 2nd (local time), Nancy Pelosi (center), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, arrived at Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] In response to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visiting Taiwan, China is conducting high-intensity military demonstrations, prompting the U.S. and Chinese diplomatic authorities to issue conflicting statements.
On the 5th (local time), U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized China's large-scale military exercises conducted in the Taiwan Strait following Speaker Pelosi's visit as a "serious act of escalating tension."
According to foreign media including the AP News, Secretary Blinken held a separate press conference in Cambodia, where he attended the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Foreign Ministers' Meetings, and described China's military demonstrations as "disproportionate, serious, and unjustified acts of escalating tension."
Blinken stated, "China is using this visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activities around the Taiwan Strait," and emphasized, "We reiterated the points we have publicly and directly made?that they must not use Speaker Pelosi's visit as a pretext for war, escalating tensions, or provocative actions; that their actions have no legitimacy; and that they must stop these actions?at the foreign ministers' meeting."
He added, "We will fly and sail wherever international law allows," and "We will continue to transit the Taiwan Strait normally while maintaining our long-standing approach of cooperating with allies and partners to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight."
On the other hand, China responded on the same day, stating, "China is not the China of 120 years ago, nor is it Iraq, Syria, or Afghanistan."
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing, "This is a major struggle between hegemony and anti-hegemony, interference and non-interference, division and anti-division," and claimed, "The Chinese people will never tolerate any foreign power bullying, oppressing, or enslaving us. Anyone harboring such delusions will have their head broken and bleed in front of the Great Wall built with the blood and flesh of more than 1.4 billion Chinese people."
She raised her voice, saying, "Resolutely safeguarding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of more than 1.4 billion Chinese people," and "We hope that the United States and its so-called democratic country followers clearly recognize this and respect and value the core interests and firm will of the Chinese people, who make up one-fifth of the world's population."
During her Asia tour, Speaker Pelosi made a surprise visit to Taiwan on the 2nd and 3rd, the first by a U.S. House Speaker in 25 years. In response, China launched 11 ballistic missiles into waters surrounding Taiwan the previous day and fired a large number of long-range artillery shells into the eastern Taiwan Strait, conducting unprecedented military demonstrations. The U.S. also deployed an aircraft carrier strike group near Taiwan waters, heightening tensions between the two countries.
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