China is using military drills to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan, and its anger over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit is just an excuse, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday.
Speaking in English at a news conference in Taipei, Wu accused China of “gross violations of international law.”
“China has used the drills in its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” he said. “It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.”
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
He said the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) activities would have taken far longer to prepare if they were a direct response to Pelosi’s visit.
China’s tactics, including the firing of ballistic missiles, were “clearly trying to deter other countries from interfering in its attempt to invade Taiwan,” and showed that it has much broader geostrategic intentions, he said.
“China’s real intention is to alter the ‘status quo’ in the Taiwan Strait and the entire region,” Wu added.
Beijing has declared ownership of the Taiwan Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and aims to influence the international community’s freedom of travel by controlling the stretch of water linking the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea, he said.
In the past week, the PLA has conducted more than 100 sea and air crossings of the median line, constituting “specific action to break the long-standing tacit agreement,” Wu said, adding that it would probably now try to “routinize its actions.”
“Its intentions are not likely to end there,” he said, noting China’s security agreement with the Solomon Islands and its influence across the Pacific, southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Continuing cyberattacks over the past week have also been traced to China and Russia, Wu said, adding that the authorities remained on “high alert,” but would not be cowed.
“China’s continued attempt to intimidate Taiwan will not panic us, nor will they defeat us. The values of freedom and democracy cannot be taken away,” he said.
Taiwan began its own scheduled live-fire military drills yesterday in Pingtung County, designed to simulate defensive operations against an attack.
Chinese vessels reportedly continued to run missions off Taiwan’s east coast and in the Strait yesterday, as median line crossings by PLA warplanes also continued.
Asked if China was trying to lure Taiwan’s allies in response to Pelosi’s visit, Wu reiterated that the nation’s diplomatic ties with its 14 allies are stable.
Wu said that some senior officials and heads of state from allied nations are planning to visit Taiwan soon to show their support amid rising cross-strait tensions.
He did not give further details, citing only the example of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a six-day visit.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
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