In a volley of statements from China’s Foreign Minister, Defence Department and Taiwan Affairs Bureau, Beijing accused Washington of being “dangerous and stupid” by attempting to thwart “an irreversible historical process” of unifying Taiwan with the mainland. The rhetoric was coupled with the mobilisation of the People’s Liberation Army and Chinese air force to conduct drills around the self-ruled island that China claims as its own.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence said the military drills would breach its territorial waters, endanger the international order and amount to a blockade of the island. Japan said it had also raised its concerns directly with Beijing.
China warned airlines to avoid flying in areas around Taiwan as the exercises got underway. The drills were expected to last until Sunday.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urged both the US and China to de-escalate tensions.
“We do have a situation where we see rhetoric increasing, and we see military hardware being deployed,” she told ABC radio. “I understand this is a very concerning situation for everyone. What we need to say to all parties is that the region wants peace and stability.”
China’s overseas citizens’ networks from Ghana, to Georgia to Thailand rallied to condemn Pelosi’s visit in a coordinated attack on US foreign policy that ended with Russia’s Kremlin declaring it was “absolutely in solidarity with China” and accusing Washington of “choosing the path of confrontation”.
A Taiwanese soldier taking part in military exercises last week that simulated a Chinese invasion.Credit:Getty Images
The surge in Chinese interest in the visit caused one of the mainland’s largest social media networks, Weibo, to crash. Taiwanese government websites were forced offline by attacks from overseas hackers.
In Beijing, Chi ..
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