China stages military exercise as US lawmakers visit Taiwan

BEIJING: China on Friday deployed fighter aircraft, bombers and warships around selfruled Taiwan as a visiting US Congressional delegation signalled support for the island, a tour termed by Beijing as “provocative” and raising tension in the region. China conducted the multi-forces drill in and over the area around Taiwan and the East China Sea, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command said.

The statement was released on the mainland as the US lawmakers were holding a news conference in Taipei.

Separately, a Chinese mainland spokesperson urged the US government to fulfil its commitment to not support “Taiwan independence” with real actions instead of saying one thing and doing another. According to the PLA, the large-scale drill was called a “joint patrol readiness combat” with emphasis on naval assault. “This operation is conducted targeting the recent wrong signals the US sent on the Taiwan question,” the PLA command said in a statement, adding: “The wicked tactics of the US are useless and dangerous. Those who play with fire will burn themselves.”

In a separate statement, the Chinese defence ministry said the visit by US politicians was “deliberately provocative” and had “led to further escalation of tension in the Taiwan Strait”.

China claims Taiwan, a selfruled democracy, as a renegade region and has not ruled out using force to reunify the island.

The visiting six-member US Congressional delegation met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday morning and will also meet with the island’s defence minister.

Senator Robert Menendez from New Jersey gave a speech praising Taiwan’s democracy and its global status as a manufacturer of semiconductor chips used in everything from cars to smartphones, and he warned of consequences if that status were jeopardised, the Associated Press said in a report from Taipei. “It is a country of global significance, of global consequence, of global impact, and therefore it should be understood the security of Taiwan has a global impact for those who would wish it ill,” said Menendez, the head of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, in a speech.

AFP Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen addresses the US senators delegation at the Presidential Office in Taipei, on Friday.