Ns News Online Desk: China says it is conducting military exercises near the Taiwan Strait to “protect its sovereignty” as a top US official visits Taiwan. The live-fire drills take place as relations between Beijing and Washington sour and the US shores up its support of Taiwan.
China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province. Keith Krach is the highest-level official from the US State Department to visit the island in decades.
On Friday, China’s defense ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang accused the US and Taiwan of “stepping up collusion, frequently causing disturbances”, although he did not make any reference to the visit.
He told reporters that “using Taiwan to control China” or trying to “rely on foreigners to build oneself up” was wishful thinking. “Those who play with fire will get burnt,” he said.
Mr Ren did not give details about the military exercise, which involves the People’s Liberation Army’s eastern theatre command, but described them as “legitimate and necessary for the mainland to protect its sovereignty and integrity”. They follow two days of large-scale Chinese drills off Taiwan’s southwestern coast last week.
The BBC’s Cindy Sui in Taipei says that by carrying out the military exercises, China is warning Washington against disrupting the balance that the United States had maintained under previous US administrations.
Taiwan’s ruling party and its supporters appear to see the US under Trump and the tensions with Beijing as an opportunity to push for closer ties with Washington and work towards their goal of getting formal international recognition of Taiwan as an independent country, says our correspondent.
