Defense

China simulates precision strikes on Taiwan in drills after McCarthy-Tsai meetup

by Julia Mueller - 04/09/23 5:46 PM ET

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., second from right, welcomes Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen as she arrives at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., Wednesday, April 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

China reportedly simulated precision strikes on Taiwan during military drills around the self-governed island on Sunday, in the wake of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) meetup with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen last week.

The simulated strikes came in a second day of drills after Tsai met with the speaker on U.S. soil in Los Angeles, Calif., Reuters reported, amid escalating tensions around the self-governed Indo-Pacific island China claims as its own territory.

Chinese state television reported that “multiple types of units carried out simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan island and the surrounding sea areas, and continue to maintain an offensive posture around the island,” per Reuters.

The Chinese military also released a video, shared by the state-run Global Times, of the simulated attacks showing missiles exploding after hitting targets in Taiwan.

Chinese state media channel CGTN reported that “combat readiness patrols and military drills” have been scheduled around Taiwan until April 10.

Beijing has been angered by U.S. support for Taiwan, and warned after the McCarthy-Tsai meeting that the U.S. should not “walk further down a wrong and dangerous road.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., the chairman of the House Select Committee on China, told the Associated Press Saturday that the U.S. should take China’s threat to Taiwan seriously as Beijing ups its military drills.

“We need to be moving heaven and earth to enhance our deterrence and denial posture, so that [Chinese President] Xi Jinping concludes that he just can’t do it,” Gallagher said.

China also retaliated after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Taiwan last year, upping military drills that Taiwan condemned as “military intimidation.”

The U.S., which has practiced strategic ambiguity when it comes to Taiwan, has been moving to shore up its presence in the Indo-Pacific region amid its own tensions with Beijing, holding large joint military drills with South Korea and the Philippines.