Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has condemned the military drills China conducted in the Taiwan Strait in apparent retaliation after Tsai met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the U.S. last week, saying Beijing is not acting in a “responsible” manner.
“As the president, I represent our country in the world, whether it’s a visit to allied countries or stopping through in the U.S. and interacting with our international friends, and not only has this been going on for years, it’s the Taiwanese people’s shared expectation,” Tsai said in a statement shared by The Associated Press.
“But China used this as a pretext to start military drills, creating instability in the Taiwan Strait and region. This is not the attitude of a responsible major nation in this region,” the Taiwan leader said.
China’s military simulated precision strikes and sealing off the democratically governed island Beijing claims as its own during three days of intense drills after Tsai’s meeting with McCarthy.
The Speaker said afterward that his meeting with Tsai provided “greater peace and stability for the world.”
China said after the exercises that its forces are “ready to fight at all times” to “resolutely smash any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and foreign interference attempts.” Similar drills were conducted after McCarthy’s predecessor, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), made a trip to Taipei last year.
U.S.-China tensions have already been heightened by the pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine and other issues — and Beijing has been upset by U.S. support for Taiwan. The U.S. has maintained strategic ambiguity in its stance on Taiwan’s independence.