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China to begin live-fire military exercises near Taiwan coast in wake of Pelosi visit – as it happened

China launches missiles into Taiwan strait after Pelosi visit – video
Samantha Lock (now); Maya Yang and Martin Belam (earlier)
Thu 4 Aug 2022 21.39 EDT

Key events

20.58 EDT

Summary

Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage.

We will be launching a new blog shortly. In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below.

  • China is to begin its second day of unprecedented live-fire drills after launching huge military exercises in the air and seas around Taiwan on Thursday, including firing ballistic missiles close to the island some of which landed in Japanese waters.
  • The exercises, which included rockets, attack helicopters and gunships, were arranged in reaction to a defiant visit to the island by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, on Wednesday.
  • The US condemned the missile launches. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
  • Kirby also warned of the risk of a mistake and calculation of the drills, saying, “One of the things that’s troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of calculation, the risk of a mistake that could actually lead to some sort of conflict.”
  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretence to increase its aggressive military action”.
  • Foreign ministers from the 10-member Asean bloc, meeting in Cambodia this week, called for “maximum restraint”, without mentioning the US or China by name. In a statement it said the situation could lead to “serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”.
  • Japan said at least five of the 11 Dongfeng ballistic missiles fell into its exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from Japan’s coast.
  • Japan also speculated that four missiles flew over Taipei, Taiwan’s capital city, according to a statement issued by its US embassy.
  • Taiwan’s defence ministry said the missiles flew high into the atmosphere and constituted no threat to the island.
  • Taiwan’s leader, Tsai Ing-wen, urged Beijing to “act with reason and exercise restraint” while maintaining Taiwan would not escalate conflict but would “resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy”.
  • Foreign governments and multilateral groups including the G7 and the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) condemned the hostilities and called for calm.
  • The drills were in unprecedented proximity to Taiwan, and included PLA warplane and navy vessel incursions over the median line of the Taiwan strait – an unofficial border between China and Taiwan.
  • Notices of the exercises identified six areas encircling Taiwan, with warnings for all ships and aircraft to “not enter the relevant sea areas and airspace”. On Thursday, local media reported the last-minute announcement of a seventh. Some of the zones overlap with Taiwan’s territorial waters, and are near key shipping ports.
  • Several cyber-attacks also struck Taiwan, targeting websites of the defence ministry, the foreign ministry and the presidential office.
  • Beijing’s Taiwan affairs office said the dispute was an internal affair. “Our punishment of pro-Taiwan independence diehards, external forces, is reasonable, lawful,” it said.
Updated at 20.58 EDT
20.08 EDT

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has called on Beijing to “act with reason and exercise restraint”.

With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason and exercise restraint.

Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.”

With China initiating military exercises in areas around Taiwan today, we call on Beijing to act with reason & exercise restraint. Taiwan will not escalate conflict, but we will resolutely defend our sovereignty, our security & our democracy.https://t.co/CXNli5bTWG

— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) August 4, 2022
Updated at 20.08 EDT
19.18 EDT

Chinese missiles posed no threat: Taiwan MoD

Taiwan’s defence ministry said missiles fired by China on Thursday flew high into the atmosphere and constituted no threat to it, responding to public concern about whether they passed over the main island of Taiwan.

The ministry said in a statement it would not disclose the Chinese missile flight path due to intelligence concerns.

Earlier, it said 11 Chinese Dongfeng ballistic missiles had been fired in waters around the island.

Taiwan also scrambled jets on Thursday to warn away 22 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the Taiwanese defence ministry said.

All 22 Chinese aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said.

The last time China fired missiles into waters around Taiwan was in 1996.

Updated at 19.21 EDT
18.53 EDT

China's top diplomat walks out of foreign ministers dinner - reports

The Chinese government’s top diplomat Wang Yi walked out before the start of a gala dinner of foreign ministers at a meeting in Cambodia on Thursday and was seen leaving the venue in a vehicle, witnesses said.

Wang Yi waved to media as he entered a holding room for the dinner then walked out of the venue, without giving a reason, according to Reuters journalists.

Two witnesses working at the venue told Reuters Wang Yi was seen leaving in a vehicle.

The dinner was attended by more than a dozen foreign ministers including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japan’s Yoshimasa Hayashi, and senior diplomats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Updated at 18.53 EDT
18.52 EDT

Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has also called for an “immediate stop” to China’s military exercises.

“China’s actions this time have a serious impact on the peace and stability of the region and the international community. I once again demand the immediate stop of these military exercises,” Hayashi told reporters.

His comments came after the Japanese defence minister said five Chinese ballistic missiles fired during the exercises were “believed to have landed within Japan’s (exclusive economic zone)“.

Updated at 18.52 EDT
18.48 EDT

Australian foreign minister Penny Wong has called for de-escalation in the Taiwan Strait and warned against the risk of miscalculation.

“All parties should consider how they can contribute to de-escalating current tensions,” Wong told Agence France Presse.

“One of the risks the region is concerned about is the risk of miscalculation.”

Wong will join the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) on Friday, a 27-member body set up to discuss security issues.

Updated at 18.48 EDT
18.05 EDT

Summary

It’s just past 6am in Taipei. Here’s where things stand:

  • The US said on Thursday that China’s launch of ballistic missiles around Taiwan was an overreaction to the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
  • China has called the US “the biggest saboteur of peace”, as its foreign ministry spokesperson slammed the US and US House speaker Nancy Pelosi for her recent visit to Taiwan. “Pelosi’s stunt is another bankruptcy of US politics, diplomacy and credibility. It proves the US to be the biggest saboteur of peace and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability,” Hua Chunying said.
  • South Korea has temporarily cancelled its flights to Taiwan as a result of the ongoing military drills conducted by China. According to local Korean media, Korean Air cancelled flights between Incheon and Taiwan on Friday and Saturday. The airline also delayed the schedule of Sunday’s flights by an hour. Similarly, Asiana shifted Thursday’s flight up by three hours and cancelled Friday’s flight to Taiwan.
  • US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Thursday he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action.” Addressing the Asean-US summit, Blinken said “many 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.”
  • The Biden administration postponed a routine test launch of an air force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing amid China’s show of force near Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. US officials did not say how long the delay might last, but one said it might last 10 days, the report added.
  • The US has been watching the Chinese military exercises near Japan “very very closely,” said John Kirby, the US’s national security council coordinator for strategic communications. In an interview with MSNBC on Thursday, Kirby said: “We’ve been watching this very, very closely. It’s concerning. It’s not just concerning to us, but it’s concerning, of course, to the people of Taiwan. It’s concerning to to our allies in the region, especially Japan.”
  • Taiwan’s defence ministry said its troops fired flares late on Thursday to deter four drones that flew above the area of its Kinmen islands, which are just off the southeastern coast of China, Reuters reports.
  • China has sent 22 fighter jets across the “median line” running down the Taiwan Strait on Thursday, according to Taipei’s defence ministry. The Ministry of National Defense said “air defense missile systems” were deployed to track the jets and radio warnings were broadcast, according to an update on its website.
  • US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and South Korea’s national assembly speaker Kim Jin-pyo vowed on Thursday to support deterrence against North Korea and achieve its denuclearisation. “Both sides expressed concerns about the dire situation of North Korea’s growing threat,” they said in a joint statement after meeting in Seoul.

That’s it from me, Maya Yang, as I hand the blog over to my colleagues in Australia who will bring you the latest developments. Thank you.

Updated at 18.12 EDT
17.31 EDT

The US said on Thursday that China’s launch of ballistic missiles around Taiwan was an overreaction to the visit of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island.

“China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,” White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters, Reuters reports.

Kirby called China’s actions part of a “manufactured crisis” and added that Beijing was attempting to alter the regional power balance.

“It’s also a pretext to try to up the ante ... and to actually try to set a new status quo, to get to a new normal where they think they can keep things at,” Kirby said.

“And my point coming out here today was making clear that we’re not going to accept a new status quo.

“The temperature’s pretty high,” Kirby said.

Tensions “can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these very aggressive military drills and flying missiles in and around the Taiwan Strait”, he said.

Kirby confirmed earlier reports that the Pentagon had delayed a scheduled test launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile to avoid stoking tensions.

“We do not believe it is in our interests, Taiwan’s interests, the region’s interests, to allow tensions to escalate further,” Kirby said.

“As China engages in destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan, the United States is demonstrating instead the behavior of a responsible nuclear power by reducing the risks of miscalculation.”

But he said the US navy’s USS Ronald Reagan carrier taskforce would remain in the area. According to a Chinese military-backed research group, South China Sea Probing Initiative, the Reagan was about 600 miles (1,000km) due east of Taiwan on Wednesday.

Kirby said the carrier group has been ordered by the Pentagon to “remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.”

“We will not be deterred from operating in the seas and the skies of the Western Pacific consistent with international law, as we have for decades, supporting Taiwan and defending a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added.

Updated at 17.35 EDT
16.32 EDT

China has called the US “the biggest saboteur of peace”, as its foreign ministry spokesperson slammed the US and US House speaker Nancy Pelosi for her recent visit to Taiwan.

On Thursday, Hua Chunying fired off a series of tweets condemning the US and warning of Chinese retaliation.

“Pelosi’s stunt is another bankruptcy of US politics, diplomacy and credibility. It proves the US to be the biggest saboteur of peace and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability,” she said.

#Pelosi’s stunt is another bankruptcy of US politics, diplomacy and credibility. It proves the US to be the biggest saboteur of peace and the biggest troublemaker to regional stability.

— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) August 4, 2022

“This incident is single-handedly orchestrated and provoked by the US and the cause, consequences and merits of the incident are crystal clear. China has done everything that is diplomatically possible to prevent this crisis which has been imposed on China,” she added.

Chunying warned that China will not “tolerate any act that harms our core interests” and that it will not “sit by and watch the US play the ‘Taiwan card’ to serve the US’s domestic politics and selfish interests of some politicians”.

Describing the recent flurry of military drills China has conducted in recent days, Chunying said that they were “necessary countermeasures that are defensive in nature which have gone through serious consideration and careful assessment”.

Updated at 16.38 EDT
15.23 EDT

South Korea has temporarily cancelled its flights to Taiwan as a result of the ongoing military drills conducted by China.

According to local Korean media, Korean Air cancelled flights between Incheon and Taiwan on Friday and Saturday. The airline also delayed the schedule of Sunday’s flights by an hour.

Similarly, Asiana shifted Thursday’s flight up by three hours and cancelled Friday’s flight to Taiwan.

Singaporean carriers have also been avoiding areas that are impacted by China’s military drills and live firing exercises, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore on Thursday.

CAAS said that China released a notice to airmen on Tuesday that banned aircraft from flying into certain areas that are affected by the live firing exercises between Thursday and Sunday.

“Singapore carriers have taken note of the (notice) as part of their standard operating procedures and are avoiding the affected areas,” CAAS said.

Updated at 15.23 EDT
14.22 EDT

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Thursday he “hopes very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action.”

Addressing the ASEAN-US summit, Blinken said “many 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.”

“We’ve reached out to engage our PRC counterparts in recent days at every level of government to convey this message … Maintaining cross-stability is the interest all countries in the region, including all of our colleagues within ASEAN,” he said.

He added: “The US continues to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan strait. We oppose any unilateral efforts to change the status quo, especially by force.”

Antony Blinken in Phnom Penh on Thursday. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP
Updated at 18.06 EDT
13.32 EDT

Biden postpones routine missile test launch, reports say

The Biden administration postponed a routine test launch of an air force Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing amid China’s show of force near Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

US officials did not say how long the delay might last, but one said it might last 10 days, the report added.

The air force had planned on conducting the test launch from the Vandenberg base in California.

The test is usually conducted a few times a year to test the ICBM’s reliability.

“This is a long-planned test but it is being postponed to remove any misunderstandings given the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] actions around Taiwan,” a defense official told Wall Street Journal.

In March, the Pentagon cancelled a flight test of a Minuteman III missile to avoid heightening tensions with Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

Updated at 13.51 EDT
12.41 EDT
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Updated at 12.41 EDT

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