Update(1545ET): It’s the middle of the night local time, but China has announced the foreign ministry has summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in order to “protest” Pelosi’s landing in Taiwan, where she’s due to meet with Tsai Ing-wen in the morning. This as PLA military drills surrounding the self-ruled island are reported to be ongoing, including ‘live fire’ exercises.
According to a readout in state-run Global Times, “China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns overnight to protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan island late Tuesday night, stressing that the nature of Pelosi’s visit is extremely vicious and the consequence is very grave. The Chinese side will not sit idly by.”
Further GT writes, “Noting that the US government should have restrained Pelosi’s unscrupulous move and prevented her from going against the historical trend but instead indulged her and colluded with her, which exacerbates the tension in the Taiwan Straits and seriously damages China-US ties, Xie said the US must pay the price for its own mistake. China will take necessary and resolute countermeasures and we mean what we say.”
This “pay the price” warning will likely only be revealed in full, in terms of the options Beijing has in store for both Washington and Taipei, in the coming days or even weeks after Pelosi departs tomorrow.
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Update(1308ET): In the overnight hours (local time), Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has issued a response to the large-scale PLA drills in surrounding waters: “We are fully aware of military activities near Taiwan and will send our forces as appropriate in response to enemy threats.”
The PLA drills will continue for days, possibly through Aug.7 – raising the risk for an incident between the Chinese, Taiwanese, and possibly the US militaries. Additionally Taiwan’s military has warned citizens to remain on “high alert” and to not believe in rumors. The statement continued:
“The Chinese maneuvers aim to intimidate our citizens psychologically… We are closely monitoring the situation and have strengthened our preparations… We have confidence and the ability to protect our security.”
21 PLA aircraft (J-11*8, J-16*10, KJ-500 AEW&C, Y-9 EW and Y-8 ELINT) entered #Taiwan’s southwest ADIZ on August 2, 2022. Please check our official website for more information: https://t.co/F5Qf2OVXao pic.twitter.com/1EJEdsDQGM
— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, R.O.C. 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) August 2, 2022
“America stands with Taiwan” – Pelosi emphasized after she touched down earlier, before 11pm local time.
Our visit reiterates that America stands with Taiwan: a robust, vibrant democracy and our important partner in the Indo-Pacific. pic.twitter.com/2sSRJXN6ST
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 2, 2022
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Update(11:56ET): As expected China’s response has been swift, with the PLA military kicking off ‘live fire’ drills in multiple areas in waters surrounding Taiwan. Beijing announced these exercises will continue from the evening of Aug.2 (literally having started within the hour of Pelosi landing in Taipei) through the next days.
China has further vowed what a statement called “targeted military actions” in response to the official visit. Additionally this is to include missile tests off of Taiwan’s east coast…
Continue: Zerohedge.com
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