Earlier this week, Chinese military completed a three-day-long series of military exercises around Taiwan.
Warships – including an aircraft carrier – and planes were sent close to the island to carry out air and sea blockade training and simulated precision strikes.
The drills came in response to an April 5 meeting between Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Tsai and McCarthy held a meeting in California while the former was on a historic whirlwind trip to the United States: it was the first visit between a House speaker and a Taiwan president on American soil since the U.S. broke off formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979. Representatives from both the Republican and Democrat parties attended.
In a press conference following the meeting, McCarthy called for greater cooperation with Taiwan on economic grounds and arms sales, and said “I believe our bond is stronger now than at any time or point in my lifetime.”
But the meeting drew a strong response from Beijing. A meeting between two such high-level officials is often seen as a violation of the one-China policy.
The US technically recognises and has formal ties with China rather than self-governing Taiwan, however, the US acknowledges a “robust unofficial relationship” and is the island's primary military backer.
As news about Tsai and McCarthy’s meeting emerged last week, China reacted by announcing ‘Joint Sword’, a three-day military exercise in and around the Taiwan Strait. April 8 – a day after Tsai returned to Taiwan - marked the start of military drills, which at times crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, an unofficial marker between Chinese and Taiwanese territory. China announced the end of drills on April 10.
Joint Sword was met with condemnation by both Taiwan and the US. Tsai denounced the drills and pledged to work with "the US and other like-minded countries" in the face of "continued authoritarian expansionism".
These recent drills echo similar ones carried out in August 2022, when then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, prompting nearly a week of military drills from Chinese forces in the area.
- Asia Media Centre
