Calls for restraint as China starts biggest military drills, fires missiles around Taiwan
Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged restraint as China fired ballistic missiles and deployed fighter jets and warships on Thursday during its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, warning the situation risked spiraling into “open conflicts.”
As of Thursday evening, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said ballistic missiles fired by China are believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone for the first time.
“Five of the nine ballistic missiles launched by China are believed to have landed within Japan’s EEZ,” Kishi told reporters.
China’s show of force was sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing views as its territory.
In retaliation, China launched a series of exercises in multiple zones around Taiwan, straddling some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and at some points just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the island’s shore.
The drills involved a “conventional missile firepower assault” in waters to the east of Taiwan, the Chinese military said.
But a source with the Chinese military said the exercises would be staged “in preparation for actual combat.”
“If the Taiwanese forces come into contact with the PLA on purpose and accidentally fire a gun, the PLA will take stern countermeasures, and all the consequences will be borne by the Taiwanese side,” the source warned.
Taiwan’s military, for its part, said its forces were closely monitoring unprecedented Chinese drills taking place in waters surrounding the island and was prepared for war, but would not seek it.
“The Ministry of National Defense stresses that it will uphold the principle of preparing for war without seeking war, and with an attitude of not escalating conflict and causing disputes,” Taipei’s defense ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan said the Chinese military fired 11 Dongfeng-class ballistic missiles “in several batches” and condemned the exercises as “irrational actions that undermine regional peace.”
Taipei did not say where the missiles landed or whether they flew over the island.
The aim was to test the precision of the missiles and their ability to deny an enemy access to or control of an area, Eastern Theater Command spokesman Senior Colonel Shi Yi said in a statement.
AFP journalists on the border island of Pingtan saw several small projectiles flying into the sky followed by plumes of white smoke and loud booming sounds.
On the mainland, at what is said to be China’s closest point to Taiwan, AFP saw a batch of five military helicopters flying at a relatively low altitude near a popular tourist spot.
Beijing said the drills will last until midday on Sunday.
The Group of Seven industrialised nations condemned the military drills.
“There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait” and China’s “escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilising the region,” the G7 foreign ministers said in a statement.
Ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Phnom Penh likewise warned against “provocative action.”
The situation “could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts, and unpredictable consequences among major powers,” the ministers said in a joint statement published Thursday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is attending the talks along with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, though they are not expected to hold a one-on-one meeting.
Beijing has defended the drills as “necessary and just,” pinning the blame for the escalation on the United States and its allies.
“In the face of this blatant provocation, we have to take legitimate and necessary countermeasures to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing Thursday.
At the meeting with ASEAN ministers, Blinken said the United States had contacted China “at every level of government” in recent days to call for calm and stability.
“I hope very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity,” Blinken said.\
“We and countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one’s interests including ASEAN members and including China.”
Beijing, which considers Taiwan a part of its territory to one day be reclaimed, by force if necessary, was enraged by the trip by Pelosi—the highest-profile elected US official to visit the island in 25 years.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, also in Phnom Penh, condemned the Chinese response.
“There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait. It is normal and routine for legislators from our countries to travel internationally,” he tweeted.
Kung Phoak, Cambodia’s deputy foreign minister and ASEAN spokesman, urged both sides to stabilize the situation.
“We hope de-escalation happens… and normalcy returns to the Taiwan Strait,” he told reporters.
ASEAN is split between countries with close ties to China, such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, and others that are warier of Beijing and its growing international assertiveness.
But no ASEAN country formally recognizes Taiwan and none has shown an appetite for backing Taipei against the communist giant.
The ministers’ statement—which avoided referring to Taiwan by name—said ASEAN “stands ready to play a constructive role in facilitating peaceful dialogue,” though it is not clear either side is interested in outside mediation.
While Wang and Blinken are not scheduled to meet bilaterally, they will both attend a meeting Friday of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), a 27-member body set up to discuss security issues that also includes Russia and the EU.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who will also join the ARF gathering, said the fragile status quo in the Taiwan Strait must be maintained.
“All parties should consider how they can contribute to de-escalating current tensions,” Wong told AFP.
“One of the risks the region is concerned about is the risk of miscalculation.”
The military maneuvers are taking place along some of the busiest shipping routes on the planet, used to supply vital semiconductors and electronic equipment produced in East Asian factory hubs to global markets.
Taiwan’s Maritime and Port Bureau has issued warnings to ships to avoid the areas being used for the Chinese drills.
And the Taiwanese Cabinet said the drills would disrupt 18 international routes passing through its flight information region (FIR).
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