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The head of EU diplomacy on Thursday condemned China’s “aggressive” military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait.
Josep Borrell argued that there is no “justification” for the actions and that Beijing is using US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan “as a pretext.”
It is normal for parliamentarians from our countries to travel internationally,” he wrote on the social network Twitter from the Cambodian capital, on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally.
We encourage all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint, act with transparency. https://t.co/b760G8L0J4
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 4, 2022
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense denounced the incursion of 27 Chinese military aircraft into the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on Wednesday, the day of the visit of US Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
27 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense space
On Tuesday, Taiwan had reported the incursion of 21 Chinese aircrafthours before Pelosi lands on the island.
On both occasions, according to the statement, the ministry activated a combat air patrol, issued radio warnings and activated missile defense systems to monitor Chinese aircraft.
ADIZ is not defined or regulated by any international treaty and is not equivalent to Taiwan’s airspace, but covers a larger area, including areas of mainland China.
The Chinese military announced military exercises with live fire in six maritime zones near Taiwan, until Sunday, in response to the controversial visit of the leader of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress.
In the last year the number of Chinese incursions has increased, actions that have been condemned by both Taiwan and the US.
This movement reached its peak in early October, when Beijing celebrated the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Pelosi’s visit caused outrage among the Chinese government, which has responded in recent days with economic sanctions on Taiwan, in addition to military exercises that are beginning.
Beijing says those who ‘offend China must be punished’
tableware claims sovereignty over the island and considers Taiwan a breakaway province since the Kuomintang nationalists withdrew to the island in 1949 after losing the civil war against the communists.
Taiwan, with which the US has no official relations, is one of the main sources of conflict between China and the US, mainly because Washington is the island’s main arms supplier and would be its greatest military ally in the event of war with the Asians. giant.
Source: Observadora
