Did you miss the latest events regarding renewed tensions over Taiwan? Don’t panic, 20 Minutes takes stock of each day since the visit of Nancy Pelosi, America’s number three and Speaker of the House, which has largely cooled relations between China and the United States. Who did what? Who says what? Where are we ? The answer below:
The fact of the day
Despite calls from the West and Japan, China announced on Monday the continuation of “Live Fire” military exercises near Taiwan, which were due to end on Sunday noon. They were launched following Nancy Pelosis’ visit to the island claimed by Beijing and were supposed to be training for a “blockade” of the island, according to official Chinese media. However, these massive maneuvers continued Monday in six major areas across Taiwan.
“The People’s Liberation Army (…) continues to conduct practical joint exercises in the sea and airspace around Taiwan, with a focus on joint anti-submarine and maritime offensive operations,” according to a press release from the Chinese Army Eastern Command.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, stressed that Beijing’s response was “legitimate, rational and legal.” “This is a warning for troublemakers and a lesson for Taiwan independence supporters,” he said. And finally: “We urge the United States to think and correct its mistake as soon as possible (…) and to stop playing the Taiwan card to hinder (the development of) China. . »
The number of the day
105 This is the number of Chinese restaurants on the island of Taiwan, a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy Hua Chunying said in a tweet. It also allowed him to justify Taiwan’s affiliation with China… while earning him an avalanche of online ridicule. “38 restaurants (serving provincial Chinese cuisine) in Shandong and 67 noodle restaurants (provincial) in Shanxi,” she wrote in detail.
phrase of the day
What he wrote didn’t shock me. It is no exaggeration to say that this visit on August 4th was anything but nuance and balance! »
These are the words of the national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, who echoed the words of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the newspaper Liberation on Monday. On his blog last week, the leader of the Insoumis assured that President Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was a “provocation”. “At a time when tensions in the world are very high, everything must be done to avoid the slightest provocation,” added Fabien Roussel, who said it was “only for one country”, in this case the United States , “unwelcome”. decides on such an initiative to provoke an incident with China”.
The trend of the day
For its part, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry issued a press release condemning a continuation of Chinese maneuvers that are undermining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and raising tensions in the region. And at the same time, the Taiwanese armed forces announced that they would organize live ammunition military exercises this week to simulate defending the island against a Chinese invasion.
They will train for Tuesday and Thursday’s landings in the Pingtung region in the far south. According to the same source, several hundred soldiers and about 40 howitzers are used for these exercises. According to the army, these exercises were already planned and not a reaction to Chinese exercises …