Beijing: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is into its sixth month. Soon, there could be another international confrontation.
China, outraged by Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, strongly condemned the US and vowed to conduct military drills.
The Chinese military said it will conduct ‘important’ military exercises and training activities, including live-fire drills in six regions surrounding Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday, according to Chinese media reports.
Soon after the Speaker of US House of Representatives landed in Taiwan on Tuesday night, Beijing warned Washington that Pelosi’s visit was similar to the US “playing with fire”.
“These moves, like playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire will perish by it,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The Taiwan question is the most important and most sensitive issue at the very heart of China-US relations,” said the statement, blaming the Taiwan and US governments for trying to change the status quo.
The statement added that on August 2, in disregard of China’s strong opposition and serious representations, Pelosi visited “China’s Taiwan region in serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiqués”.
The visit will have a “severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”, China said.
“It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence’,” the statement added.
Beijing has been claiming Taiwan as its own territory and hasn’t ruled out use of force to merge it with the mainland.
