Singapore: Penny Wong has warned of the risk of miscalculation after China began its biggest ever live-fire drills near Taiwan in retaliation for the visit to the island by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Beijing’s armed forces on Thursday launched long-range artillery live-fire shooting drills in the Taiwan Strait and sent dozens of warplanes over the median line.
Taiwanese soldier during recent live-fire drills to prepare for an invasion by China.Credit:Getty
Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that China had fired several ballistic missiles into water surrounding northeastern and southwestern Taiwan just before 2pm on Thursday afternoon.
“We would encourage all parties to consider how they can contribute to de-escalating the current situation,” the Foreign Minister said in Phnom Penh on Thursday. “One of the risks that I think the region is concerned about is the risk of miscalculation.”
As other world leaders joined Wong’s calls for calm, Taiwanese officials told reporters that a handful of Chinese navy ships had also crossed the barrier separating the island from the mainland but had been repelled by Taiwanese naval ships. The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet announced it had moved the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to the Philippine Sea, southeast of Taiwan as part of “scheduled operations” in the Indo-Pacific.
The rapid escalation is the most significant military operation in the area since the Taiwan missile crisis in 1996. China’s army on Thursday added a seventh zone to its military drills, encircling Taiwan’s main island, and creating havoc for global shipping routes.
A Taiwanese soldier taking part in military exercises last week that simulated a Chinese invasion.Credit:Getty Images
The exercises were sparked by Pelosi’s controversial stopover on the self-ruled island on Wednesday where she infuriated Beijing by extending the US’ “iron clad” commitment to Taiwan’s democracy, a move seen as a defacto endorsement of Taiwan’s government.
China’s furious response to her visit has raised concerns about the possibility of open conflict breaking out and prompted regional neighbours to urge “maximum restraint”.
Wong arrived in Cambodia on Thursday for a series of meetings with regional counterparts including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang accused the US of violating China’s sovereignty and did not back down from threats to unify with Taiwan, China’s democratic neighbour of 23 million people.
“The irreversible historical trend of Taiwan’s return to the motherland cannot be changed,” he said outside a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “Those who offend China will surely be punished.”
Other ASEAN leaders expressed alarm over the developments after meeting in Cambodia.
In a joint statement, members of the regional bloc, who include Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, said they were “concerned with the international and regional volatility”, especially close to South-east Asia, fearing it “eventually could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers”.
The flare-up over Taiwan has overshadowed discussion between foreign ministers in Phnom Penh about the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
The junta’s execution of four pro-government demonstrators late last month has angered the likes of Indonesia and Malaysia and Wong said she was “dismayed” at the military regime’s disregard for ASEAN’s five-point peace plan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi.Credit:Getty
While the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada have imposed sanctions against the junta since it removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup, Australia has refrained from following suit as Sydney economist and Suu Kyi advisor Sean Turnell continues to be detained in Myanmar.
Wong has said repeatedly that the Australian government is considering sanctions but reiterated on Thursday that Turnell was the top priority.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is also in Cambodia for the ASEAN regional forum and East Asia Summit foreign ministers meeting, having flown from Naypyidaw, where he met on Wednesday with Myanmar junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Lavrov was welcomed to Phnom Penh by Cambodia leader Hun Sen on Thursday.
Myanmar has been excluded from the ASEAN-related meetings, to which even North Korea is invited.
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