Sunday, August 28, 9:04 am: Two US warships crossed the Taiwan Strait on Sunday. As the US Navy’s 7th Fleet announced on Twitter, the operation of the guided missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville demonstrated “the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
It is the first time since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan that US forces have sent warships through the Taiwan Straits. The People’s Republic of China responded to the US politician’s visit at the beginning of August with military maneuvers lasting several days.
The Ministry of Defense in Taipei issued a statement on Sunday that it was closely monitoring the passage of the two US warships and had not been able to detect any unusual activity.
Beijing regards the democratic island of Taiwan as part of its territory and rejects any form of official contact between Taiwan and other countries.
Saturday, August 27, 09:42: Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has compared China’s aggression against her country with Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Both developments are evidence of “how authoritarian countries are disrupting and threatening the world order,” Tsai said on Friday when welcoming a group of visitors led by US Senator Marsha Blackburn. It is the fourth American delegation to Taiwan in just a few weeks.
Tsai said democratic states must continue to unite and cooperate in the face of these threats. Taiwan will continue to work with the US and other like-minded democracies to ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
A visit by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, triggered serious tensions with China in early August. Beijing began large-scale maneuvers around Taiwan. A sea and air blockade and a possible conquest were practiced. Nevertheless, other delegations with US politicians traveled to Taiwan shortly afterwards.
China sees the democratically governed island as part of the People’s Republic. Taiwan, on the other hand, sees itself as independent.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu again clearly condemned China’s military maneuvers on Friday. Chinese fighter jets and warships have recently operated more intensively in the 130-kilometer-wide straits of the Taiwan Strait and have repeatedly crossed the center line, which had previously been the most respected. With the exercises, China is trampling on the status quo, Wu said. “No matter how much China tries to claim that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China. It is not in line with the reality on the ground,” said the Foreign Minister.
Wu paid tribute to European countries like Germany, France, Britain, which he said are always at the forefront of supporting Taiwan.
In response to the growing threat from China, Taiwan announced a sharp 13.9 percent increase in its defense spending on Thursday. According to the government’s draft budget, the military budget is to increase to 586 billion Taiwan dollars, the equivalent of 19 billion euros. This corresponds to 2.4 percent of the economic output of the democratic island republic.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense justified the increase with the expansion of military activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army near Taiwan.
3:58 p.m .: In response to the growing threat from China, Taiwan plans to increase its defense spending by 13.9 percent next year. The surprise visit of another US congressional delegation with US senators in Taipei, whose arrival with a US military plane was expected on Thursday evening local time, according to the CNA news agency, could also trigger new tensions.
It would be the third US delegation to visit the island’s democratic republic this month, following the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of five members of Congress. According to CNA, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen plans to receive the US politicians on Friday.
The communist leadership in Beijing rejects official contacts from other countries to Taipei because it regards the island as part of the People’s Republic. On the other hand, Taiwan, which has a population of 23 million, sees itself as independent – it has been governed independently since before the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
With Beijing’s outrage, especially over the visit of Pelosi, number three in the USA, tensions had reached a temporary high. It was the highest-ranking visit from the United States in a quarter of a century. In response, China launched large-scale maneuvers around Taiwan, firing ballistic missiles, one of which flew directly over the island not far from the capital. It was Beijing’s biggest show of power since the Taiwan “missile crisis” in the mid-1990s.
In response to China’s growing military operations near Taiwan, the government in Taipei is planning a sharp increase in defense spending. According to the government’s draft budget, the military budget is to increase to 586 billion Taiwan dollars, the equivalent of 19 billion euros. This corresponds to 2.4 percent of the economic output of the democratic island republic.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense justified the increase with the expansion of military activities by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army near Taiwan. Since the major maneuvers, Chinese planes and ships have continued to operate more intensively in the 130-kilometer-wide straits of the Taiwan Strait and repeatedly cross the center line, which had previously been the most respected.
Thursday, August 18, 6:41 a.m .: China’s already tense relations with the United States and Taiwan are threatened with new upset. The governments in Washington and Taipei announced on Thursday that they would start formal trade talks as part of a new initiative. The first round is scheduled to take place in “early fall,” the office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said. Both sides wanted to deepen trade and investment relations.
The announcement came just two weeks after a visit to Taiwan by US leader Nancy Pelosi, which angered the government in Beijing. China responded with the largest military maneuvers in its history in waters near Taiwan.
Thursday, August 11, 7:01 am: Amid massive tensions with China, Taiwan has again held a military exercise to ward off a possible attack. As on Tuesday, live artillery shells and flares were fired in Taiwan’s southernmost district of Pingtung on Thursday, an army spokesman told the AFP news agency. The exercise lasted about an hour. As on Tuesday, hundreds of soldiers took part.
7:01 p.m .: US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has defended her visit to Taiwan despite the massive tensions with China. “Yes, it was worth it,” said the 82-year-old, who traveled to Asia last week, in an interview with US broadcaster NBC on Tuesday. “What the Chinese are doing now is what they always do,” she said, referring to new military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait. The Democrat said she received “overwhelming bipartisan support” for her visit.
According to Pelosi, China’s head of state and government Xi Jinping is in a “difficult situation”. He has problems with his economy, and he also wants to be re-elected. “He acts like a fearful bully.”
Tuesday 09 August 07:35: Both China and Taiwan have held further maneuvers in a sign of ongoing tensions. The Chinese military continued its “combat-oriented” drills, which have been going on for days, on Tuesday, Chinese state media reported.
Against the background of military pressure from China, Taiwan also began its own maneuvers on Tuesday, which had been announced for a long time. Live ammunition shots were fired during the artillery exercise on the Taiwanese coast, as reported by Taiwanese television.
The maneuver was therefore held near an area that the Chinese had also declared as an exercise zone in the past few days. The Taiwanese maneuver had already been announced in July, even before the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, traveled to Taipei last week against Beijing’s opposition.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu condemned the expansion of Chinese maneuvers near Taiwan. “China’s real intention behind these military exercises is to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region,” Wu said Tuesday. The large-scale military exercises, rocket launches and cyber attacks also aim to weaken public morale on the island.
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