Tensions in the Taiwan conflict continue.
The US sends another delegation to Taipei, Beijing issues an urgent warning and announces further military maneuvers.
Taipei - The situation in the Taiwan conflict remains tense.
While China continues to provoke militarily, US politicians are traveling to Taiwan again.
Beijing reacts angrily and warns of "playing with fire".
On Monday, China announced further military maneuvers.
But now the United States apparently wants to cross the Taiwan Strait with ships and planes.
US delegation travels to Taiwan amid tensions
A week and a half after the visit of top US politician Nancy Pelosi, a delegation from the US Congress surprisingly arrived in Taiwan on Sunday.
During their previously unannounced visit, the delegation plans to meet President Tsai Ing-wen, among others, as both sides announced in Taipei.
China reacted angrily and accused US politicians of "playing with fire".
The US institute in Taipei said it was a five-strong delegation that would remain in Taiwan until Monday as part of "a lengthy visit to the Indo-Pacific region."
Talks with Taiwanese politicians will cover bilateral relations, regional security, trade and investment, climate change and other important issues.
According to the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a meeting with President Tsai and a banquet with Foreign Minister Joseph Wu are planned.
The ministry said in a statement that as China "further escalates tensions in the region," the U.S. Congress has again sent a high-level delegation to visit Taiwan "to show a friendship that has not shirked China's threats and threats." fears intimidation".
Beijing reacts to US visit: Largest military maneuvers in China's history
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province.
Taipei broke away from Beijing in 1949. For Prime Minister Xi Jinping, the "unification" of the island with the mainland is a "historic task" - if necessary with the use of force.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe recently openly threatened war if Taiwan were to declare independence.
China's military threats are not new.
Even before Nancy Pelosi's visit, Chinese military aircraft repeatedly entered Taiwanese airspace.
Some even Xian H-6 bombers capable of nuclear weapons.
China and Taiwan: That's what the conflict is about
China and Taiwan: That's what the conflict is about
But the reaction to the visit of the speaker of the US House of Representatives was more violent than ever: China held the largest military maneuvers in its history in the waters around Taiwan - and the military provocations continue.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry said in its weekly report on Sunday that it had spotted 22 Chinese planes and six Chinese ships in the strait between the People's Republic and Taiwan.
Eleven planes crossed the unofficial maritime border between China and Taiwan, known as the center line.
Beijing also announced further military maneuvers on Monday.
What the Chinese military maneuvers around Taiwan mean - and how the US is reacting
+
A Diamondbacks Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the South China Sea August 2, 2022.
© IMAGO/US Navy/Zuma Wire
Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has fueled fears that Beijing could use a similar approach in its dealings with Taiwan.
Some experts actually consider the Taiwan crisis to be more dangerous than the Ukraine war and warn of the “beginning of a decade of maximum danger”.
Beijing reiterated after Pelosi's visit that it would not leave Taiwan "any room for separatist activity of any kind."
In addition, China will "not renounce the use of force" and reserves the right to "take any necessary measures," according to the Taiwan Affairs Bureau on Wednesday.
The United States is now apparently reacting to China's military threats.
According to a senior US government official, the United States plans to cross the Taiwan Strait by ship and plane in the "coming weeks."
The United States also wants to expand its trade relations with Taiwan, as the US coordinator for the Asia-Pacific region, Kurt Campbell, announced in Washington on Friday.
"Consistent with our long-term commitment to freedom of navigation, US forces will continue to fly, navigate the seas and operate where international law permits," Campbell said.
The US has already conducted military exercises in the South China Sea in the past, which China has always strongly criticized.
(AFP/dpa/bme)
.
