As US politicians visit Taiwan, China conducts military drills

The US in Taiwan: China’s military conducted drills on Friday to reaffirm its threat to use force to annex Taiwan, as United States legislators visiting Taiwan made a public statement of support for the self-governing island democracy while delivering a warning to China. On Friday morning, the six MPs met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and were also set to meet with the island’s defense minister.

The military drills conducted by the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command in areas adjacent to Taiwan were “a countermeasure to the United States’ recent negative actions, including the visit of a delegation of lawmakers to Taiwan,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Zhao went on to say that China would “continue to take strong steps to resolutely preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China objected to visit of US legislators

Because China says Taiwan is part of its national territory and not an independent country, it opposes any official contact between Taiwan’s government and other international governments. After a civil war in 1949, China and Taiwan separated.

The exercises were defined as “a necessary step based on the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and the necessity to preserve national sovereignty” by the Eastern Theater Command in a statement. “Taiwan is a portion of Chinese land that is sacrosanct and inalienable.” Foreign intervention in the Taiwan issue is not tolerated, according to the statement.

Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey gave a speech Friday as part of a delegation of visiting United States lawmakers praising Taiwan’s democracy and global status as a manufacturer of semiconductor chips used in everything from cars to smartphones, and warning of the consequences if that status were jeopardized.

In a speech at Taiwan’s Presidential Office, Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “It is a country of global significance, of global consequence, of global impact, and it should be understood that the security of Taiwan has a global impact for those who would wish it ill.”

“We wish no conflict with China,” he said, “just as I believe Taiwan seeks no conflict with China.” Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina leads a group that includes Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Robert Portman of Ohio, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Ronny Jackson of Texas. Tsai expressed her gratitude for their visit and expressed the hope that it will assist to improve US-Taiwan relations. 

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated that democrats must strengthen their alliances so that we can collectively defend ourselves against authoritarian regimes seeking to destabilize regional peace,” Tsai stated.

The United States is Taiwan’s most important unofficial ally, and it has increased weaponry sales to the island in recent years. By law, the United States is obligated to assist Taiwan with defense arms. The question of whether the US would intervene if China launched a military invasion remains unanswered.

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