AIn response to US leader Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China has partially suspended trade with the island. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Wednesday that exports of sand to Taiwan have been suspended. Imports of citrus fruit, frozen mackerel fillet and chilled hairtail fish from Taiwan will be banned from Aug. 3, China Customs said. It is not known how long the restrictions will apply. China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner.
Pelosi arrived in Taipei on Tuesday evening as part of her Asia trip. China regards Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic. Taiwan, on the other hand, has repeatedly declared that it is an independent country. However, the island is only recognized by a few countries. Taiwan’s status is one of the main points of contention between the world’s two largest economies.
China starts military maneuvers
Pelosi arrived in Parliament for talks on Wednesday. A meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen was also on the agenda. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched maneuvers in six sea areas surrounding Taiwan in the face of the highest-level US visit to the island’s democratic republic in a quarter of a century. There should also be “extensive shooting practice” until Sunday.
The maneuvers are considered the greatest military muscle flexing since the missile crisis of 1995, when China fired missiles over Taiwan to intimidate it and the US dispatched two aircraft carrier groups. The sea areas for the exercises go well beyond the restricted zones at the time, reach close to Taiwan and sometimes appear to be encroaching on its sovereign territories. Experts also expect that shipping routes could be affected.
The State Department in Beijing summoned US Ambassador to Beijing Nicolas Burns on Wednesday to protest Pelosi’s visit. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng spoke of a “serious provocation and a violation of the one China principle”, as reported by state media.
As a further reaction, China’s People’s Liberation Army sent 21 planes into Taiwan’s Air Surveillance Zone (ADIZ) on Tuesday alone, the Defense Ministry in Taipei reported. These provocations have recently increased sharply, but the high number is unusual. It was about fighter jets and aircraft for air surveillance or electronic warfare.
At the Taipei legislature, Pelosi met Legislative Council Vice Chairman Tsai Chi-chang and other lawmakers. Chairman Yu Shyi-kun was unable to attend as he was in quarantine after traveling abroad. The 82-year-old also wanted to meet human rights activists before flying on to Seoul at 5 p.m. local time with a congressional delegation as part of her Asia trip.
