China begins the largest military maneuvers in its history around Taiwan after Pelosi's trip

The Chinese army began unprecedented military maneuvers around Taiwan on Thursday, live-fire exercises that will last until Sunday and that, according to the island's Ministry of Defense, are equivalent to a "sea and air blockade."

The show of force by the People's Liberation Army comes a day after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial visit to Taipei.

His stay on the island, which functions

as an independent state and which Beijing considers an inalienable part of its territory, lasted just 24 hours but it was enough to outrage the Asian giant, which has warned the G-7 that it will respond "to any violation of its sovereignty”.

In response to this trip that, for China, encourages what it considers secessionist whims of the Taiwanese Executive, Beijing began live fire drills in the waters around Taiwan around 12:00 this Thursday (6:00 in the morning in mainland Spain). ).

The Chinese military has even launched ballistic missiles near the Matsu Islands in Taiwanese waters, according to the island's Defense Ministry.

These military exercises include the closure of maritime and air space in six zones around the island.

One of them is located just 20 kilometers from the coast of Kaohsiung, the main city in southern Taiwan.

Taipei says it is closely monitoring the exercises and that its forces are preparing for conflict, but not looking for it.

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From the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan they have condemned these drills, which they have described as "irresponsible" and "illegitimate" for being carried out on the busiest international waterways and air routes in the region.

The G-7 and the European Union have also condemned the maneuvers in a joint statement and pointed out that "there is no justification for using a visit as a pretext for aggressive military activity."

The head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has reproduced that same quote in a tweet in which the "concern" of the EU and the G-7 is expressed.

There is no justification to use a visit as a 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

The spokesman for the Chinese mission to the European Union, Zhang Ming, has replied to this statement urging the United States to be responsible for its actions.

"Taiwan is part of Chinese territory and meddling in its affairs is a violation of its sovereignty," Ming declared in a note shared by his office, where he warned that "any action that violates China's sovereignty and territorial integrity will be response".

Taiwan is not a special administrative region of China, like Hong Kong and Macao, but functions as a

The Taiwanese elect their government democratically, they have their own Constitution and an army with some 300,000 troops.

For China, the island is just a "rogue" province with an "illegitimate" Executive.

The diplomatic relations of the Asian giant with the rest of the countries are based on the principle of

that is, there is only one China, and this includes Taiwan.

The Chinese newspaper

, owned by the Communist Party and with a nationalist editorial line, has acknowledged, citing military analysts, that the exercises are "unprecedented" and that missiles will fly over Taiwan for the first time.

The Taiwan Affairs Office - an administrative agency that responds to the Chinese State Council - has expressed this Thursday that the differences between the mainland and the island are "internal affairs of China", and has defended that the maneuvers are "a punishment to the pro-independence and external forces”.

Beijing defends these exercises, as well as other maneuvers carried out in recent days around Taiwan, as "just and necessary", and blames the United States and its allies for the escalation.

Taiwan's reaction

Taipei says it is closely monitoring the exercises and that its forces are preparing for conflict, but not looking for it.

"The Ministry of National Defense maintains that it will uphold the principle of preparing for war without seeking war, with the attitude of not escalating the conflict or causing disputes," the Taiwanese government said in a statement.

For his part, Yu Chien-chang, a senior official in the legal department of the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense, considers that the exercises "equivalent to an air and sea blockade" because "they overlap with our territorial waters and our airspace, and seriously violate our sovereignty."

The Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation has assured that the ships arriving in or leaving Taiwan will have to avoid the areas where the Chinese Army is carrying out its practices, a situation that, if prolonged over time, could have an impact on the communications of the island.

According to local media, the Chinese drills have affected 18 international air routes on the island and more than 900 flights have been forced to change their route.

In the face of the recent escalation, Taipei says its military is closely monitoring the situation in the strait and on outlying islands, and all its troops are conducting daily training.

The military authorities warn that the Army will continue to reinforce its alert level and will react to the "enemy situation" in an appropriate manner.

The Defense portfolio has also reported that, on Wednesday, Taiwan registered the entry of 27 Chinese military aircraft into its self-defined Air Defense Identification Zone, for which its Army activated a combat air patrol, issued radio warnings and deployed missile defense systems to monitor Chinese aircraft.

Also, a few hours after Pelosi flew to South Korea (the fourth stop on her Asia-Pacific tour),

A Chinese military helicopter flies over Pingtan Island, near Taiwan, on Thursday.

HECTOR RETAMAL (AFP)

cyber attack

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense has also reported that its website suffered a cyberattack from abroad on Wednesday night and temporarily lost internet connection.

The same thing happened to various government pages, including the Office of the President, as Pelosi flew to Taipei on Tuesday.

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