China halts cooperation with US over climate and military issues after sending missiles over Taiwan island – live | Taiwan

Helen Davidson

Helen Davidson offers this analysis from Taipei:

Amid the round-the-clock global coverage, there was still a distinct lack of panic among Taiwanese. Reporters roamed coastal spots near the drill zones, looking for quotes but finding few in fear. In the capital, Taipei, people ate their lunches in city restaurants as warships steamed across wall-mounted television screens. Online, people shared memes and joked about an anti-US protester photographed outside Pelosi’s hotel, holding a sign made with pieced-together printed papers that was evidently supposed to say “Warmonger Pelosi” but instead read “ongerwarm osiPel”.

Social media commenters brushed it all off as not real military action. “The CCP has no real ability and can only put on some performances,” said one.

Inside Taiwan, there is real gratitude towards Pelosi, despite the potentially dangerous fallout. Outside the airport on Wednesday, young Timothy Lee said she had “risked her life” to visit and show Taiwan support. Lee Ming-che, a Taiwanese activist who was recently released from a Chinese jail after five years, was one of three former political prisoners to meet Pelosi. He told the Guardian her visit showed young people they should keep defending human rights.

“She is an 82-year-old and not giving up,” Lee said. “She has not given up and Taiwan should not give up.”

Read more of Helen Davidson’s analysis here: What the fallout from Pelosi’s visit means for Taiwan and China

US national security spokesman John Kirby has said that when China’s ambassador Qin Gang was summoned to the White House, the US made clear to the ambassador that China’s military actions are irresponsible and at odds with maintaining peace and stability across the region.

Reuters quotes Kirby saying “We also made clear that the United States is prepared for what Beijing chooses to do. We will not seek and do not want a crisis.

“At the same time, we will not be deterred from operating in the seas and skies of the Western Pacific, consistent with international law, as we have for decades, and supporting Taiwan and defending a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu has said in a tweet that “China carried out a record 68 sorties by warplanes and sailed 13 warships around Taiwan.”

He added “Many crossed the median line of the strait to simulate attacks. This dangerous escalation of the military threat is wrecking peace and stability in the region and must be condemned.”

The tweet came from the ministry’s official account and was initialled JW to show it was personally by the minister.

It has just gone half-past eight in the evening in Taiwan, and here is a summary of events so far today.

• China has continued to carry out military drills and exercises in the vicinity of Taiwan for a second day, following the visit of US politician Nancy Pelosi to the islands. The Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has stated that China’s military conducted air and sea combat drills to the north, south-west and east of Taiwan, and continues “to test the troops’ joint combat capabilities”.

• Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Friday a total of 68 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were conducting missions in the sensitive Taiwan Strait and some of them have “deliberately” crossed an unofficial buffer separating the two sides known as the median line. The ministry condemned China in a statement, saying its armed forces have “seriously damaged” the status quo and “harassed” Taiwan’s water and air space. Taiwan said it had used alert broadcasts, aircraft, naval vessels, and land-based missile systems in its response.

• State broadcaster CCTV showed an interview in China with Meng Xiangqing, a professor at China’s military-affiliated National Defence University, in which he claimed the exercises “included live-firing tests, and it was the first time they crossed Taiwan island”. The claim has not been verified, and Taiwan has made no official comment about an overflight.

• China has announced it has halted ties with the US on a range of critical issues. The cancelled interactions ranged from climate talks, to dialogues between the leaders of Chinese and US military theatres, to the working meeting of Chinese and US defence ministries and consultation mechanism on maritime military safety between the countries.

• China’s government also announced unspecified personal sanctions against Pelosi and her direct relatives in response to what it said was her “vicious and provocative actions” by going to Taiwan, accusing her of “seriously undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, seriously trampling on the one-China principle, and seriously threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan strait”.

• Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen delivered a video message in response to China’s exercises starting on Thursday. In it, she says: “We are calm and not impetuous, we are rational and not provocative, but we will also be firm and not shirk. Taiwan will never be knocked down by challenges.”

 

• US secretary of state Antony Blinken has warned again that China’s “provocative” actions risk a serious escalation and could destabilise the region. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Asean regional forum meeting, Blinken told the media that the US has repeatedly told China that it did not seek a crisis. Blinken said that Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was peaceful, and that “there was no possible justification for what they have done” in response.

• The US has summoned China’s ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche him for China’s actions. A démarche is a protest lodged through diplomatic channels.

• China summoned Canada’s ambassador over the country’s participation in a statement issued by the foreign ministers of the G7 nations. Chinese vice foreign minister Xie Feng informed the ambassador Canada should “immediately correct its mistakes” on the issue of Taiwan or “bear all consequences”.

• Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly walked out of a session at the Asean forum today when their Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi spoke.

• Pelosi has been in Tokyo today, where Japan’s prime minister Fumio Kishida said he told her “we have called for the immediate cancellation of the military drills”, which he described as a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens”.

• Australia’s foreign secretary Penny Wong has described China’s actions as “disproportionate and destabilising”.

Earlier today, the US secretary of state said there was “no justification” for China’s military drills around Taiwan after the US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

Addressing a news conference on the sidelines of the Asean regional forum meeting, Antony Blinken said the US had repeatedly told China it did not seek a crisis. He added that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful but China chose to “overreact”. Here’s the video clip:

 

Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Friday a total of 68 Chinese military aircraft and 13 navy ships were conducting missions in the sensitive Taiwan strait and some of them have “deliberately” crossed an unofficial buffer separating the two sides known as the median line.

Reuters reports the ministry condemned China in a statement, saying its armed forces have “seriously damaged” the status quo and “harassed” Taiwan’s water and air space.

• An earlier version of this block incorrectly stated that all 68 aircraft and 13 ships were believed to have crossed the median line.

China halts ties with US on range of critical issues including climate crisis

Vincent Ni

China has halted ties with the US on a range of critical issues, from talks on the climate crisis to dialogue between their militaries, following the visit to Taiwan by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

The announcement of the counter-measures came as Beijing conducted military drills surrounding the island of Taiwan. Earlier, China announced sanctions against Pelosi and her direct family members. Beijing called Pelosi’s visit “vicious and provocative actions”.

The halted interactions ranged from climate talks, to dialogues between the leaders of Chinese and US military theatres, to the working meeting of Chinese and US defence ministries and consultation mechanism on maritime military safety between the countries.

Tensions are running high in the Taiwan strait. The military drills have forced a number of vessels to reroute their journeys, causing disruptions to regional – and global – economies. On average, 240 commercial ships have passed through the maritime zones each day over the past week, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data.

Earlier, the US condemned China’s launch of ballistic missiles around Taiwan during live-fire exercises as an “overreaction”, as a number of Chinese ships and planes again crossed the median line.

Read more of Vincent Ni’s report: China halts US cooperation after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

Reuters is carrying a report that suggests that tensions at the gathering of foreign ministers hosted by south-east Asia’s regional bloc Asean have continued. As well as the member states, counterparts from the US, China, Russia, Japan and Australia have all been there.

It appears that Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of a session today when their Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi spoke, according to what a person who was in the room has said to the news agency.

Wang had cancelled a meeting with Japan’s representative in Cambodia a day earlier, with China citing displeasure over a G7 statement urging it to resolve tension over Taiwan peacefully.

As well as earlier announcing that it would impose sanctions on US House speaker Nancy Pelosi following her visit to Taiwan, China’s foreign ministry is announcing the withdrawal of joint cooperation with the US on a range of issues.

Reuters reports it has listed climate talks between the US and China, dialogue between US and China military leaders, cross-border cooperation on crime, maritime safety mechanisms and relationships on immigration and anti-drug policies as areas of activity that will cease.

More details soon …

Reuters reports that the official Weibo account of the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has stated that China’s military conducted air and sea combat drills to the north, south-west and east of Taiwan, and continues “to test the troops’ joint combat capabilities”.

China has said that it summoned Canada’s ambassador over the country’s participation in a statement issued by the foreign ministers of the G7 nations.

Reuters reports that in a statement from China’s foreign ministry today, it says Jim Nickel was summoned on Thursday by Chinese vice foreign minister Xie Feng who informed him Canada should “immediately correct its mistakes” on the issue of Taiwan or “bear all consequences”.

The Washington Post is reporting that China’s ambassador to the US has been summoned to the White House.

Yasmeen Abutaleb writes:

“After China’s actions overnight, we summoned Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche him about the PRC’s provocative actions,” White House spokesman John Kirby said in a statement provided to the Washington Post.

“We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” A démarche is a protest lodged through diplomatic channels.

Yesterday, the Washington Post carried an op-ed piece written by the ambassador, in which he put China’s point of view over the escalating dispute. In the article, titled Why China objects to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Qin Gang wrote:

Taiwan has been an inseparable part of China’s territory for 1,800 years.

When China and the United States established diplomatic relations on 1 January 1979, the United States recognised in the joint communique with China that the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government of China. Four decades have passed since, and the United States has long been committed to not developing official relations with Taiwan.

By order of succession, House speaker Nancy Pelosi is the third-highest-ranking official in the US government. Traveling in a military aircraft, Pelosi paid a high-profile “official visit to Taiwan” this week, as her office described it in her arrival statement, and was given full-protocol treatment by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive party authorities, who make no secret of pursuing independence in their party platform. Such a visit has openly broken America’s commitment not to develop official relations with Taiwan.

That position is disputed. Yesterday Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that China has no reason to overreact, as “the US and other Nato allies have paid visits with high-ranking officials to Taiwan regularly over the years”.

Here are some of the latest images we have received from China and Taiwan over the newswires.