Chinese warplanes and warships have crossed the “middle line” of the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwan government announced on Friday as Beijing launched military exercises on an unprecedented scale around the island on Thursday.
Some missiles reportedly fell in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
China, which considers this autonomous territory of 23 million inhabitants as an integral part of its territory, launched these exercises following the visit of the speaker of the American House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
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“
The Chinese carried out these shootings, probably using our visit as a pretext
,” commented Nancy Pelosi during a press conference Friday in Tokyo.
They "
tried to isolate Taiwan
", she added, recalling that Beijing had in the spring rejected a call from the United States to allow Taiwan's participation in the annual meeting of the World Health Organization. (WHO).
