Hours After Nancy Pelosi’s Exit, China Launches Precise Attacks In Taiwan Strait

China’s Eastern Military Command announced on Thursday that it had carried out long-range firing in precision strikes at specific areas in the eastern part of the Taiwan Strait as part of scheduled exercises, hours after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taipei after a visit that infuriated Beijing.

According to a Taiwan source briefed on the situation, Chinese navy ships and military aircraft temporarily crossed the Taiwan Strait middle line on Thursday morning. According to Chinese state media, China began military exercises on Wednesday surrounding Taiwan’s main island hours after the US House Speaker left Taipei.

At noon local time, live-fire drills started in six designated zones across the island, according to a report by Al Jazeera citing state media in China. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to Xinhua News Agency, staged joint combat training drills on Wednesday in the oceans and airspace to the north, south, and southeast of Taiwan Island.

The drills included personnel from the Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force, and Logistic Support Force under the control of the Eastern Theater Command. The joint fighting abilities of the forces were put to the test in the military operations, according to Xinhua. “The drills focused on critical training sessions including joint blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control operation,” it said.

In response to a query regarding the PLA’s choice to begin the exercises two days after Pelosi’s arrival, a military expert said that the plan demonstrates the army’s logical and responsible attitude because it gives domestic and foreign airlines and civilian ships time to evacuate their aircraft and adjust their flights.

According to Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the People’s Liberation Army’s Naval Research Academy, the exercises involve conventional missile test launches and long-range live-fire shooting. According to international accords, locations of military drills must be notified three days in advance and, in an emergency event, 24 hours in advance.

“This is primarily done to provide local and international ships enough time to escape, as well as to allow linked civilian aircraft to modify their flight paths to avoid the affected locations. The action demonstrates the PLA’s responsible and logical attitude by ensuring that no innocent bystanders are injured during the drills “As reported by Global Times, Zhang stated.

The Kinmen Islands, a region of Taiwan off the southeast coast of China, were flared at by an unidentified aircraft on Wednesday night, according to Taiwan’s defence ministry.

According to Major General Chang Zone-sung of the military’s Kinmen Defense Command, two Chinese drones entered the Kinmen region on Wednesday night at approximately 9 pm (6:30 pm IST) and 10 pm (7:30 pm IST), according to reports from Al Jazeera and Reuters News Agency.

“We fired flares at them right away to warn them off and scare them away. They then went backwards. We scattered them since they entered our forbidden territory, “explained him. The People’s Republic of China (PRCactions )’s in response to Pelosi’s visit have alarmed the Group of Seven developed countries, who have called for restraint and warned against unnecessarily escalating the situation.

China was extremely enraged by Pelosi’s visit, which is also the largest number of US trips in more than 20 years, and the communist country threatened the US that it will “pay the price.”

Because of her prominent position as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Pelosi’s travel to China has heightened US-China tensions more than trips by other members of Congress. In the 25 years since Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan in 1997, she is the only speaker of the house to do so.

After Pelosi’s visit, the Chinese military announced that they would conduct live-fire naval drills in the Taiwan Strait, which is primarily seen as a move by the US to increase pressure on China over its claim to Taiwan. In response, the Pentagon also dispatched an aircraft carrier to the South China Sea.

Hours after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taipei on Wednesday, the island’s Defence Ministry reported that China had earlier sent 27 aircraft to Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ).

China, which recognises Taiwan as its territory and opposes any contact between Taiwanese officials and foreign governments, announced a number of military drills near the island, made a number of critical remarks, and even summoned Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to Beijing, to express its displeasure with Pelosi’s visit. Additionally, China has made the decision to skip the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Cambodia where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would be present.