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World News See other World News Articles Title: China Summons US Ambassador Overnight, Says Washington "Must Pay The Price" Update(1545ET): It's the middle of the night local time, but China has announced the foreign ministry has summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns in order to "protest" Pelosi's landing in Taiwan, where she's due to meet with Tsai Ing-wen in the morning. This as PLA military drills surrounding the self-ruled island are reported to be ongoing, including 'live fire' exercises. According to a readout in state-run Global Times, "China's Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns overnight to protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan island late Tuesday night, stressing that the nature of Pelosi's visit is extremely vicious and the consequence is very grave. The Chinese side will not sit idly by." Further GT writes, "Noting that the US government should have restrained Pelosi's unscrupulous move and prevented her from going against the historical trend but instead indulged her and colluded with her, which exacerbates the tension in the Taiwan Straits and seriously damages China-US ties, Xie said the US must pay the price for its own mistake. China will take necessary and resolute countermeasures and we mean what we say." This "pay the price" warning will likely only be revealed in full, in terms of the options Beijing has in store for both Washington and Taipei, in the coming days or even weeks after Pelosi departs tomorrow. Update(1308ET): In the overnight hours (local time), Taiwan's Defense Ministry has issued a response to the large-scale PLA drills in surrounding waters: "We are fully aware of military activities near Taiwan and will send our forces as appropriate in response to enemy threats." The PLA drills will continue for days, possibly through Aug.7 - raising the risk for an incident between the Chinese, Taiwanese, and possibly the US militaries. Additionally Taiwan's military has warned citizens to remain on "high alert" and to not believe in rumors. The statement continued: "The Chinese maneuvers aim to intimidate our citizens psychologically... We are closely monitoring the situation and have strengthened our preparations... We have confidence and the ability to protect our security." Nancy Pelosi @SpeakerPelosi Our visit reiterates that America stands with Taiwan: a robust, vibrant democracy and our important partner in the Indo-Pacific. Update(11:56ET): As expected China's response has been swift, with the PLA military kicking off 'live fire' drills in multiple areas in waters surrounding Taiwan. Beijing announced these exercises will continue from the evening of Aug.2 (literally having started within the hour of Pelosi landing in Taipei) through the next days. China has further vowed what a statement called "targeted military actions" in response to the official visit. Additionally this is to include missile tests off of Taiwan's east coast... China’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday night it will conduct a series of targeted military operations to "safeguard national sovereignty" in response to Pelosi’s visit. It vowed to "resolutely thwart external interference" and 'Taiwan independence’ separatist attempts'." It's confirmed that Pelosi will stay the night, and is expected to next meet with Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday, and then depart the island. Some Western commentators are taking note of just how close to Taiwan's coast the PLA exercises are taking place - even within Taiwan-claimed waters. "Beyond Taiwan's territorial waters, China's published maps show that they plan to conduct military operations within Taiwan's Internal Waters (purple -approx line) in two areas. This is as close as you can get without landing on the beaches..." wrote one observer. "As close as you can get" and therefore unprecedented, based on maps confirmed in state-run Global Times. Given the location of PLA "shooting exercises" - said to be in six regions surrounding the self-ruled island, according to a map circulating posted to Weibo, a natural question arises: will the situation be safe and secure enough for Pelosi's US Air Force-operated Boeing C-40C to depart the island the next day? Is China sending a stern message in 'boxing' off the island? Global Times @globaltimesnews China state-affiliated media The US is urged to clearly see the historical context, and the DPP must abandon the "Taiwan independence" attempt as any such move will be crushed by the strong power of the Chinese people in opposing "Taiwan independence" and promoting reunification: Office Global Times @globaltimesnews China state-affiliated media No matter how people like Pelosi act to support Taiwan island and contain China, they can't stop China's reunification process. Reunification must and will be achieved: Taiwan Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Meanwhile some of the latest reaction statements from Beijing, via a Xinhua and Bloomberg: Says the visit sends wrong signal to Taiwan separatist forces Says it’s very dangerous act of playing with fire, those who play with fire will set themselves on fire China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the visit, and has lodged solemn representations and strong protests with the US side China urges US to stop interfering with domestic affair by "playing Taiwan card" * * * Update(11:10ET): Some quick reaction headlines after Pelosi has landed in Taipei, and is expected to stay overnight: CHINA PLA SAYS TO CONDUCT MILITARY DRILLS ON AUG. 4-7: XINHUA CHINA SAYS PELOSI'S VISIT VIOLATES ONE CHINA PRINCIPLE: XINHUA PELOSI'S VISIT 'SEVERLY IMPACTS' CHINA-US FOUNDATION: XINHUA MOFA SAYS VISIT VIOLATES CHINESE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY: XINHUA 10-YEAR YIELD HITS SESSION HIGH AS TAIWAN FOREIGN MINISTER GREETS U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER PELOSI, LAST UP 7 BPS AT 2.6757% CHINA SAYS VISIT 'DANGEROUS ACT OF PLAYING WITH FIRE': XINHUA PELOSI: TALKS W/ TAIWAN TO FOCUS ON REAFFIRMING OUR SUPPOR PELOSI: VISIT IN NO WAY CONTRADICTS LONGSTANDING US POLICY PELOSI: MY TRIP TO TAIWAN REFLECTS MY COMMITMENT TO A VIBRANT DEMOCRACY Pelosi's office released her official statement upon landing: "Our visit is part of our broader trip to the Indo-Pacific — including Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan — focused on mutual security, economic partnership and democratic governance. Our discussions with Taiwan leadership will focus on reaffirming our support for our partner and on promoting our shared interests, including advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region. America’s solidarity with the 23 million people of Taiwan is more important today than ever, as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy." "Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan – and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, U.S.-China Joint Communiques and the Six Assurances. The United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo." Update(10:17ET): Bloomberg is reporting China has closed airspace above the Taiwan Strait to all civilian aircraft. At the same time, social media continues to be flooded with videos appearing to show Chinese military hardware and armored convoys surging into Fujian province, which is the part of the mainland nearest Taiwan. In follow-up, The South China Morning Post writes that this stepped up PLA activity is expected to continue: The PLA could send warplanes across the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits the democratic island, and analysts say it could start happening more regularly. ...A military source close to the People’s Liberation Army said it would step up its pressure campaign against Taiwan in response to a Pelosi visit and that "Beijing will give Taipei a hard time" afterwards. But importantly, China's defense ministry has emphasized it has never recognized the legitimacy of the "dividing line" - claiming the whole of the territorial waters as China's. Confirmation is now coming out that the official website of Taiwan's presidency came under cyberattack earlier in the day. President spokesman Xavier Chang described it as notably severe, "some 200 times worse than usual" - he said according to Bloomberg. At one point the website was inaccessible, but later came back online, he described, saying further that "government agencies will continue to strengthen monitoring to maintain the security of national information and communications, and the stable operation of key infrastructure." * * * It's after 7:00pm in Taiwan, and Reuters reports that the military aircraft likely carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation has departed Malaysia and could be bypassing the South China Sea, where the Chinese navy has been conducting sporadic military drills. The plane widely believed to be Pelosi's departed Kuala Lumpur at 3:42pm local time, with the destination listed as "N/A". However some have noted another US Air Force C-40C had landed in Kuala Lumpur on the same day Pelosi was there, so it's still uncertain which aircraft could be transporting the House Speaker. Reuters further observes that "In addition to the military incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on a nearly daily basis this year, two Chinese warships – a missile destroyer and guided-missile frigate – were also tracked in international waters off the coast of Lanyu Island in eastern Taiwan early Tuesday morning." On Monday evening, Taiwan and US media sources said she's expected to touch down at Taipei Songshan Airport at 10:20pm Tuesday night. China's foreign ministry has repeated that it's prepared to respond to what it says is a blatant violation of its sovereignty and the One China principle with "forceful measures". Some serious military hardware is meanwhile being maneuvered on the ground in nearby Fujian province, which sits just across from the self-ruled island. The PLA's Eastern Theater command appears to still be engaged in 'live fire' drills in a show of force. Large military convoys have been seen traversing civilian streets in Fujian. It's long been known that any serious Chinese military action threatening Taiwan would likely be staged from this portion of the mainland which sits most closely to Taiwan, just across the strait. As for US Navy positioning, Reuters has separately reported: Four U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on what the U.S. Navy called routine deployments on Tuesday amid Chinese anger over U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit the island. Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports emerging that the website of the Taiwan presidency has been subject to a cyberattack Tuesday, just as Pelosi's plane appears to be en route. The Chinese foreign minister has also just issued a fresh threat, saying Pelosi is playing "with fire" - repeating President Xi's words last Thursday in his phone call with Biden - and says she risks the US becoming an enemy of "1.4 billion Chinese people" and thus "will not meet with a good end." Global Times @globaltimesnews China state-affiliated media …Some US politicians who selfishly play with fire on the Taiwan question, becoming the enemies to 1.4 billion Chinese people, will not meet with a good end, Wang said after attending SCO FMs meeting and paying visits to some countries in Central Asia Poster Comment: I was writing about Taiwan already. I should finish in the morning. I do not believe there will be a live war soon over Taiwan. Sun Tzu had a different solution. This stunt might help Pelosi in the polls but that boost will fade when Ukraine collapses. Too many lies have been told. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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