China on Thursday fired a series of ballistic missiles into waters near ports in Taiwan and conducted further military exercises to punish the country for hosting a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said China fired 11 Dongfeng missiles at waters north, northeast, south and east of Taiwan between 1:56 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. in an “irrational action that is destroying regional peace.”
Dongfeng ballistic missiles are among the most powerful weapons of the People’s Liberation Army. These include the DF-21 intermediate-range anti-ship weapon, which is seen as a tool to prevent the US Navy and its aircraft carrier strike groups from operating in strategically important areas near China.
Taipei also said four drones flew over small islands next to Kinmen, the Taiwan-controlled island off the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen — the second such overflight of Taiwan-held offshore islands during the current Chinese exercises and the third time in the past week.
In the afternoon, a rumble of apparent artillery fire was heard in northern Taiwan as China began three-day exercises, unprecedented in scale and strategically located in six areas off the island’s coast.
Five ballistic missiles launched by China also landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone for the first time, drawing sharp criticism from Tokyo.
“This is a serious issue affecting the security and public safety of our country. We condemn that in the strongest possible terms,” Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said.
A missile flew over Taipei, according to a map from the Japanese Defense Ministry. Jude Blanchette, a China expert at CSIS, a think tank, said firing a missile over the Taiwanese capital was a “significant escalation”.
The Pentagon declined to comment on Chinese military activities, and the White House did not respond to a request for comment. Ahead of Pelosi’s landing in Taiwan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China “not to escalate.”
Pelosi this week became the first speaker of the US House of Representatives to visit Taiwan in 25 years as part of a tour of Asia, during which she pledged “ironclad” support to the country’s democratically elected government.
Aside from the missile tests, the PLA also sent fighter jets to Taiwan. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said 22 warplanes crossed the center line in the Taiwan Straits on Thursday, an unofficial dividing line the two sides respected in the past to avoid conflict.
After the exercises, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen appealed to the international community for help to “collectively stop unilateral and irrational military actions.”
“We are committed to maintaining the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Tsai added in a speech. “We are calm and not aggressive, we are rational and not provocative, but we will also be steadfast and not back down.”
To reassure the public, she said her national security team is doing everything it can to keep air routes and sea lanes safe and ensure the normal operations of ports and airports.
“We are also working to ensure the normal operation and stability of the economy and financial markets,” she said.
China, which has accused Pelosi of violating its claimed sovereignty over Taiwan, waited for her to leave the island on Wednesday before beginning exercises.
Analysts said the delay helped avoid immediate clashes with the US, but the drills were expected to far exceed the scale and intensity of those held during the last straits crisis 26 years ago.
They said the maneuvers risked undermining a fragile, decades-long peace between China and Taiwan, which has been de facto independent since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, and could spark a conflict between Beijing and the US.
Speaking at CSIS, John Culver, a former top CIA China analyst, said the Chinese firing of the missiles, along with other military activities, indicates that US-China relations have entered a “new era.” .
“I think that’s the new normal. The Chinese want to show, as they have done in previous Taiwan road crises, that a line has been crossed with the speaker’s visit,” Culver said.
Regardless, Pelosi’s visit to the island continued to make diplomatic waves. China canceled a bilateral foreign minister-level meeting with Japan that was due to take place in Cambodia on Thursday in apparent protest at a statement by Group of Seven countries and the EU criticizing PLA exercises.
“Japan is in no position to comment on Taiwan-related matters,” said Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry.
In South Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol declined to meet Pelosi during the Seoul leg of her Asia trip, in what critics called a snub aimed at placating Beijing.
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The US response to the exercises was muted. “The USS Ronald Reagan and her task force are navigating the Philippine Sea continuing normal, scheduled operations as part of their routine patrol in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet.
The USS Tripoli, a large amphibious assault ship with fighter jets, also operates in the region.
The Chinese drills have disrupted air travel, with South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air canceling all flights between Seoul and Taipei on Friday and Saturday, and its rival Asiana Airlines reportedly did the same. Asiana could not be reached for comment.
A disruption to merchant shipping is not yet clear. According to ship-tracking website MarineTraffic, traffic in the areas declared closed by the PLA was lighter than usual, although some fishing and cargo vessels passed through.
Beijing denounced Pelosi’s visit as a provocation in a propaganda barrage and singled out some politicians from the ruling Taiwanese Democratic Progressive Party as targets for future “punishment”.
Additional coverage by Maiqi Ding in Beijing, Christian Davies and Song Jung-a in Seoul, and Kana Inagaki in Tokyo
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