China-Taiwan News LIVE Updates: Taiwan accused the Chinese army of simulating an attack on its main island Saturday, as Beijing doubled down on its retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei after announcing a suspension of cooperation with Washington on key issues.
Relations between the two superpowers have nosedived in the wake of Pelosi’s trip to China’s self-ruled neighbour — which it claims as its territory — prompting calls from the UN for an urgent de-escalation of tensions.
China announced it was halting dialogue with the United States in a number of areas, including between theater-level military commanders and on climate change, in a furore over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. China’s foreign ministry said it was also suspending exchanges with Washington on countering cross-border crime and drug trafficking, all moves Washington called “irresponsible.”
Here are the latest updates in the story:
– While continuing to cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait, China’s naval vessels and drones are also reportedly simulating attacks on Japanese and American aircraft on Taiwan’s Eastern side as well as near Japanese islands.
– Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang rejected the accusations from the US regarding the Chinese military’s countermeasures against Nancy Pelosi’s recent Taiwan visit, after being summoned by the White House National Security Council. “Despite China’s repeated and serious warnings in advance, the U.S. has had House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit Taiwan. This has seriously undermined peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and China-U.S. relations,” read a statement released by the Chinese Embassy to the U.S., stressing that Washington should bear responsibility for the current situation.
– US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said China should not hold hostage talks on important global matters such as the climate crisis. “We should not hold hostage cooperation on matters of global concern because of differences between our two countries,” Blinken said. He cited cooperation on climate change as a key area where China shut down contact that doesn’t punish the United States it punishes the world. “The world’s largest carbon emitter is now refusing to engage on combatting the climate crisis,” Blinken said, adding that China’s firing of ballistic missiles that landed in waters surrounding Taiwan was a dangerous and destabilizing action.
– The deputy head of Taiwan defence ministry’s research and development unit was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room, according to the official Central News Agency. Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, was found dead in a hotel room in southern Taiwan on Saturday morning. The authorities were looking into the cause of death.
– Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. Wang Yi further said that it’s a complete “rumour and slander” that the US said China has changed the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
– Taiwan’s military said it observed “multiple” Chinese planes and ships operating in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, believing them to be simulating an attack on the self-ruled democracy’s main island. Taipei’s forces “detected multiple batches of Communist planes and ships conducting activities around the Taiwan Strait, some of which crossed the median line.
– China has declared four days of military exercises in six designated zones surrounding Taiwan, as part of its angry response to Pelosi’s visit to Taipei. The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) which oversees Taiwan, continued to conduct joint combat exercises and training in the northern, southwestern and eastern waters and airspace off Taiwan island for the second day on Friday.
– Taipei’s military said 68 Chinese fighter jets and 13 warships crossed the “median line” that runs down the Taiwan Strait during Friday’s military drills by Beijing’s forces.
– India has firmly conveyed its concerns to China over certain instances of Chinese combat jets flying close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The concerns were conveyed during a special round of military talks on August 2, they said. The Indian delegation strongly pressed for avoiding flying activities within 10 km of the LAC on both sides, the sources added.
– The United States condemned China on Friday for cutting off bilateral cooperation in a number of key areas, and said Beijing can ease tensions over Taiwan by ending its “provocative” military drills. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that China’s decision to halt engagement on climate change and other issues was “fundamentally irresponsible.”
– UN chief Antonio Guterres believes it is impossible to tackle the world’s biggest challenges without cooperation between the United States and China, his spokesman said Friday, as the two superpowers’ relations nosedive over Taiwan.
– The White House summoned China’s ambassador to Washington to condemn the “irresponsible” behavior of Beijing over Taiwan, a senior US official said Friday.
– The long route of Nancy Pelosi’s Tuesday flight over Borneo to Taipei and a U.S. aircraft carrier’s complex passage through the South China Sea highlight the difficulties U.S. forces now face against a Chinese military keen to flex its muscles over Taiwan. The plane carrying Pelosi and her congressional delegation skirted the South China Sea – and its fortified islands – as it flew from Singapore on Tuesday, taking a longer route over the island of Borneo and eastern side of the Philippines.
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