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China’s ‘live fire’ bores shadow Pelosi in Taiwan
STORY: China expressed its outrage over the visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a burst of military activity in surrounding waters. As Pelosi completed the highest U.S. visit to the island in 25 years on Wednesday (Aug. 3), a senior defense official described the military’s live-fire exercises as an effective blockade. These images were broadcast on Chinese state television. Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense says some air and naval exercises are taking place in the 12-nautical-mile area that Taiwan considers its territory, an unprecedented move. China’s foreign ministry says it does not see the exercises causing freedom of navigation problems. This was Speaker Pelosi with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen:PELOSI: America’s determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around the world remains rock solid.” TSAI: “This year Russia invaded Ukraine, and then security Taiwan Strait is not yet a focal point for the rest of the world, and the moment democratic Taiwan is invaded will be a major attack on the security of the entire Indo-Pacific region.” China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control, and the United States has warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist at the Australian National University, says the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has worried some Taiwanese about their security. ten to fifteen percent — in terms of Taiwanese worrying or losing faith that the US won’t help Taiwan’s military if war breaks out in Taiwan with China. And that’s because they think the US has not intervened militarily in Ukraine directly, and maybe it could be a situation of Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” Pelosi also met with pro-democracy activists in Taiwan, including one who killed Hong Kong in 2019. and this man – Wu’er Kaixi – one of the original student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest. Beijing has said Pelosi’s visit seriously damages peace and stability in the region.
