By Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu
TAIPEI (Reuters) – China’s firing of missiles during military exercises around Taiwan was an unwarranted escalation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as Beijing said it would impose sanctions on the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, for visiting the island.
Diplomatic relations took a turn for the worse on Friday as China’s Foreign Ministry said it would cancel talks between US and Chinese military leaders and suspend bilateral talks on climate and maritime security.
Blinken said Washington has repeatedly made it clear to Beijing that it is not seeking a crisis, amid diplomatic turmoil over Pelosi’s visit this week to the autonomous island that Beijing considers part of its sovereign territory.
“There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalating military response,” Blinken said, speaking at a news conference during the Asean Regional Forum in Cambodia. He added: “Now, they’ve taken the dangerous acts to a new level.”
China launched its biggest-ever military exercises in the seas and skies around Taiwan on Thursday, a day after Pelosi angered Beijing by making a solidarity trip to the island in the US’s highest-profile visit to Taiwan in 25 years. The live shooting drills are scheduled to continue until noon on Sunday.
On Friday, China’s military conducted air and sea exercises in the north, southwest and east of Taiwan “to test the troops’ joint combat capabilities,” the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command said in an official statement on Friday. Weibo.
Blinken emphasized that the United States would not take steps to provoke a crisis, but would continue to support regional allies and conduct standard air and sea transit through the Taiwan Strait.
“We will fly, sail and operate where international law allows,” he declared.
The White House summoned Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang on Thursday to condemn the escalating actions against Taiwan.
State Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China’s halt to negotiations or the report that Washington had summoned Beijing’s ambassador.
China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that it will impose sanctions on Pelosi and her family in response to the US House Speaker’s “provocative” actions.
“Despite China’s serious concerns and staunch opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs, undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, trampling on the ‘one China’ policy, and threatening peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was also suspending cooperation in the prevention of cross-border and anti-drug crime, and cooperation in the repatriation of illegal immigrants.
Speaking in Japan, Pelosi said her trip to Asia was never intended to change the regional status quo.
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