*
China starts three days of drills around Taiwan
*
Taiwan says it will respond calmly
*
China angered by Taiwan president meeting U.S. House
Speaker
*
Announcement comes shortly after French president leaves
China
By Josh Arslan and Ben Blanchard
FUZHOU, China/TAIPEI, April 8 (Reuters) - China began
three days of military exercises around Taiwan on Saturday to
express anger at Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with
the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, as the
island's defence ministry said it would respond calmly.
The drills, announced the day after Tsai returned from the
United States, had been widely expected after China condemned
the meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own
territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the
island under its control. Taiwan's government strongly objects
to China's claims.
Beijing's announcement also came just hours after China
hosted a visit by senior European leaders.
The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theatre Command said
it had started the combat readiness patrols and "Joint Sword"
exercises around Taiwan, having said earlier it would be holding
them in the Taiwan Strait and to the north, south and east of
Taiwan "as planned".
"This is a serious warning to the Taiwan independence
separatist forces and external forces' collusion and
provocation, and it is a necessary action to defend national
sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said in a short
statement.
Taiwan's Defence Ministry said it was monitoring the
situation, maintaining a high degree of vigilance and would
respond appropriately to defend the island's security.
China was using Tsai's U.S. visit "as an excuse to carry out
military exercises, which has seriously damaged regional peace,
stability and security", the ministry said in a statement.
"The military will respond with a calm, rational and serious
attitude, and will stand guard and monitor in accordance with
the principles of 'not escalating nor disputes' to defend
national sovereignty and national security."
The ministry said earlier on Saturday that in the previous
24 hours it had spotted four Chinese aircraft in Taiwan's air
defence zone, not an unusual number.
Reuters reporters in a seaside area near Fuzhou, which sits
opposite the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, saw a Chinese
warship firing shells onto a drill area on China's coast, part
of drills announced by China late on Friday.
Tsai will meet visiting U.S. lawmaker delegation, led by
Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
later on Saturday.
DIPLOMACY AND DRILLS
The People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling
Communist Party, said in a commentary on Saturday that the
government has "a strong ability to thwart any form of Taiwan
independence secession".
"All countermeasures taken by the Chinese government belong
to China's legitimate and legal right to safeguard national
sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.
Tsai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been
rebuffed as the government views her as a separatist. She says
only Taiwan's people can decide their future.
China had threatened unspecified retaliation if the meeting
with McCarthy - second in line to succeed the U.S. president,
after the vice president - were to take place. Beijing staged
war games around Taiwan, including live-fire missile launches,
in August after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.
However, unlike in August, China has yet to announce whether
it will also stage missile drills. In the previous instance,
China published a map at the time it announced the drills,
showing which maritime areas near Taiwan it would be firing
into.
Taiwanese officials had expected a less severe reaction to
the McCarthy meeting, given it took place in the United States,
but they had said they could not rule out the possibility of
China staging more drills.
China's announcement came hours after French President
Emmanuel Macron left China, where he met President Xi Jinping
and other senior leaders. Macron urged Beijing to talk sense to
Russia over the war in Ukraine.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, also in China
this week to meet Xi, said stability in the Taiwan Strait was of
paramount importance.
Xi responded by saying that expecting China to compromise on
Taiwan was "wishful thinking", according to China's official
reading of the meeting.
China's defence ministry, as well as carrying the
announcement of the drills around Taiwan, showed pictures on its
home page of Xi meeting Macron and von der Leyen.
(Reporting by Josh Arslan and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Diane
Craft and William Mallard)
((ben.blanchard@thomsonreuters.com;))
Keywords: CHINA TAIWAN/ (WRAPUP 1, TV, PIX)
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
