US watching Chinese military drills ‘very closely’ as ballistic missiles fired into Taiwan strait – live
US watching China military drills ‘very closely’
The US has been watching the Chinese military exercises near Japan “very very closely,” said John Kirby, the US’s National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications.
In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Kirby said: “We’ve been watching this very, very closely. It’s concerning. It’s not just concerning to us, but it’s concerning, of course, to the people of Taiwan. It’s concerning to to our allies in the region, especially Japan.”
In recent days, China has been conducting its largest-ever military drills near Taiwan following a controversial visit from US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-ruled territory.
When asked whether Pelosi’s trip triggered China’s military drills, Kirby said, “The provocateur here is Beijing. They didn’t have to react this way to what is completely normal travel by congressional members to Taiwan…The Chinese are the ones who are escalating this.”
He also warned the risk of calculation of the drills, saying, “One of the things that’s troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of calculation, the risk of a mistake that could actually lead to some sort of conflict.”
Key events
Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has called on Beijing to “act with reason and exercise restraint”.
With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason and exercise restraint.
Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.”
With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason & exercise restraint. Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.https://t.co/CXNli5bTWG
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) August 4, 2022
Chinese missiles posed no threat: Taiwan MoD
Taiwan’s defence ministry said missiles fired by China on Thursday flew high into the atmosphere and constituted no threat to it, responding to public concern about whether they passed over the main island of Taiwan.
The ministry said in a statement it would not disclose the Chinese missile flight path due to intelligence concerns.
Earlier, it said 11 Chinese Dongfeng ballistic missiles had been fired in waters around the island.
Taiwan also scrambled jets on Thursday to warn away 22 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the Taiwanese defence ministry said.
All 22 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said.
The last time China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan was in 1996.
China’s top diplomat walks out of foreign ministers dinner – reports
The Chinese government’s top diplomat Wang Yi walked out before the start of a gala dinner of foreign ministers at a meeting in Cambodia on Thursday and was seen leaving the venue in a vehicle, witnesses said.
Wang Yi waved to media as he entered a holding room for the dinner then walked out of the venue, without giving a reason, according to Reuters journalists.
Two witnesses working at the venue told Reuters Wang Yi was seen leaving in a vehicle.
The dinner was attended by more than a dozen foreign ministers including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan’s Yoshimasa Hayashi, and senior diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has also called for an “immediate stop” to China’s military exercises.
“China’s actions this time have a serious impact on the peace and stability of the region and the international community. I once again demand the immediate stop of these military exercises,” Hayashi told reporters.
His comments came after the Japanese defence minister said five Chinese ballistic missiles fired during the exercises were “believed to have landed within Japan’s (exclusive economic zone)“.
Australian foreign minister Penny Wong has called for de-escalation in the Taiwan Strait and warned against the risk of miscalculation.
“All parties should consider how they can contribute to de-escalating current tensions,” Wong told Agence France Presse.
“One of the risks the region is concerned about is the risk of miscalculation.”
Wong will join the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) on Friday, a 27-member body set up to discuss security issues.
Summary
It’s just past 6am in Taipei. Here’s where things stand:
- The US said on Thursday that China’s launch of ballistic missiles around Taiwan was an overreaction to the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
- China has called the US “the biggest saboteur of peace”, as its foreign ministry spokesperson slammed the US and US House speaker Nancy Pelosi for her recent visit to Taiwan. “Pelosi’s stunt is another bankruptcy of US politics, diplomacy and credibility. It proves the US to be the biggest saboteur of peace and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability,” Hua Chunying said.
- South Korea has temporarily cancelled its flights to Taiwan as a result of the ongoing military drills conducted by China. According to local Korean media, Korean Air cancelled flights between Incheon and Taiwan on Friday and Saturday. The airline also delayed the schedule of Sunday’s flights by an hour. Similarly, Asiana shifted Thursday’s flight up by three hours and cancelled Friday’s flight to Taiwan.
- US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Thursday he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action.” Addressing the Asean-US summit, Blinken said “many countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests, including Asean members and including China.”
- The Biden administration postponed a routine test launch of an air force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing amid China’s show of force near Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. US officials did not say how long the delay might last, but one said it might last 10 days, the report added.
- The US has been watching the Chinese military exercises near Japan “very very closely,” said John Kirby, the US’s national security council coordinator for strategic communications. In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Kirby said: “We’ve been watching this very, very closely. It’s concerning. It’s not just concerning to us, but it’s concerning, of course, to the people of Taiwan. It’s concerning to to our allies in the region, especially Japan.”
- Taiwan’s defence ministry said its troops fired flares late on Thursday to deter four drones that flew above the area of its Kinmen islands, which are just off the southeastern coast of China, Reuters reports.
- China has sent 22 fighter jets across the “median line” running down the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, according to Taipei’s defence ministry. The Ministry of National Defense said “air defense missile systems” were deployed to track the jets and radio warnings were broadcast, according to an update on its website.
- US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and South Korea’s national assembly speaker Kim Jin-pyo vowed on Thursday to support deterrence against North Korea and achieve its denuclearisation. “Both sides expressed concerns about the dire situation of North Korea’s growing threat,” they said in a joint statement after meeting in Seoul.
That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as I hand the blog over to my colleagues in Australia who will bring you the latest developments. Thank you.
The US said on Thursday that China’s launch of ballistic missiles around Taiwan was an overreaction to the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island.
“China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, Reuters reports.
Kirby called China’s actions part of a “manufactured crisis” and added that Beijing was attempting to alter the regional power balance.
“It’s also a pretext to try to up the ante … and to actually try to set a new status quo, to get to a new normal where they think they can keep things at,” Kirby said.
“And my point coming out here today was making clear that we’re not going to accept a new status quo.
“The temperature’s pretty high,” Kirby said.
Tensions “can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these very aggressive military drills and flying missiles in and around the Taiwan Strait”, he said.
Kirby confirmed earlier reports that the Pentagon had delayed a scheduled test launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile to avoid stoking tensions.
“We do not believe it is in our interests, Taiwan’s interests, the region’s interests, to allow tensions to escalate further,” Kirby said.
“As China engages in destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan, the United States is demonstrating instead the behavior of a responsible nuclear power by reducing the risks of miscalculation.”
But he said the US navy’s USS Ronald Reagan carrier taskforce would remain in the area. According to a Chinese military-backed research group, South China Sea Probing Initiative, the Reagan was about 600 miles (1,000km) due east of Taiwan on Wednesday.
Kirby said the carrier group has been ordered by the Pentagon to “remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.”
“We will not be deterred from operating in the seas and the skies of the Western Pacific consistent with international law, as we have for decades, supporting Taiwan and defending a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added.
China has called the US “the biggest saboteur of peace”, as its foreign ministry spokesperson slammed the US and US House speaker Nancy Pelosi for her recent visit to Taiwan.
On Thursday, Hua Chunying fired off a series of tweets condemning the US and warning of Chinese retaliation.
“Pelosi’s stunt is another bankruptcy of US politics, diplomacy and credibility. It proves the US to be the biggest saboteur of peace and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability,” she said.
#Pelosi’s stunt is another bankruptcy of US politics, diplomacy and credibility. It proves the US to be the biggest saboteur of peace and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability.
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) August 4, 2022
“This incident is single-handedly orchestrated and provoked by the US and the cause, consequences and merits of the incident are crystal clear. China has done everything that is diplomatically possible to prevent this crisis which has been imposed on China,” she added.
Chunying warned that China will not “tolerate any act that harms our core interests” and that it will not “sit by and watch the US play the ‘Taiwan card’ to serve the US’s domestic politics and selfish interests of some politicians”.
Describing the recent flurry of military drills China has conducted in recent days, Chunying said that they were “necessary countermeasures that are defensive in nature which have gone through serious consideration and careful assessment”.
South Korea has temporarily cancelled its flights to Taiwan as a result of the ongoing military drills conducted by China.
According to local Korean media, Korean Air cancelled flights between Incheon and Taiwan on Friday and Saturday. The airline also delayed the schedule of Sunday’s flights by an hour.
Similarly, Asiana shifted Thursday’s flight up by three hours and cancelled Friday’s flight to Taiwan.
Singaporean carriers have also been avoiding areas that are impacted by China’s military drills and live firing exercises, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore on Thursday.
CAAS said that China released a notice to airmen on Tuesday that banned aircraft from flying into certain areas that are affected by the live firing exercises between Thursday and Sunday.
“Singapore carriers have taken note of the (notice) as part of their standard operating procedures and are avoiding the affected areas,” CAAS said.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Thursday he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action.”
Addressing the ASEAN-US summit, Blinken said “many countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests, including ASEAN members and including China.”
“We’ve reached out to engage our PRC counterparts in recent days at every level of government to convey this message … Maintaining cross-stability is the interest all countries in the region, including all of our colleagues within ASEAN,” he said.
He added: “The US continues to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan strait. We oppose any unilateral efforts to change the status quo, especially by force.”
Biden postpones routine missile test launch, reports say
The Biden administration postponed a routine test launch of an air force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing amid China’s show of force near Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
US officials did not say how long the delay might last, but one said it might last 10 days, the report added.
The air force had planned on conducting the test launch from the Vandenberg base in California.
The test is usually conducted a few times a year to test the ICBM’s reliability.
“This is a long-planned test but it is being postponed to remove any misunderstandings given the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] actions around Taiwan,” a defense official told Wall Street Journal.
In March, the Pentagon cancelled a flight test of a Minuteman III missile to avoid heightening tensions with Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
[ad_2]
Share this news on your Fb,Twitter and Whatsapp
Times News Network:Latest News Headlines
Times News Network||Health||New York||USA News||Technology||World News
