China this Friday, August 5, raised the level of his retribution for Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, with measures including the suspension of cooperation mechanisms with Washington and sanctions against the President of the Legislature United States of America and the crossing of ships and planes from the centreline of the Formosa street.
Two days after the veteran politician’s controversial trip, Beijing announced eight measures including the suspension of cooperation on matters such as the judiciary, climate change, repatriation of illegal immigrants, criminal legal assistance, crime-fighting transnational corporations and talks on climate change.
It has also canceled telephone calls between military command leaders and working meetings between the defense departments of both powers, as well as those of the Military Maritime Security Consultation Mechanism.
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These cancellations mean there is no longer a trust mechanism between the armed forces of both superpowers at a time when tensions in the Taiwan Straits are at their highest since the 1990s.
The Asian country released that decision just an hour after Pelosi and her immediate relatives imposed sanctions for “ignoring China’s concerns and staunch opposition” to their trip and undermining “the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The measures include a travel ban for Pelosi and her associates to China, with no further details at this time.
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Likewise, in the last few hours, China has summoned diplomatic representatives from Europe, the European Union, Japan and Canada, following the statements made by the G7 foreign ministers regarding Taiwan.
The ministers urged Beijing on Thursday not to use Pelosi’s recent visit as a “pretext for aggressive military action in the Taiwan Strait.”
centerline crossing
For its part, Taiwan today denounced that up to 68 planes and thirteen ships belonging to the Chinese army continue to operate in the Taiwan Strait and that some of them crossed the Formosa Strait centerline on the second day of military maneuvers initiated by Beijing this Thursday. . .
While it was first Beijing that condemned Washington for crossing its red line with Pelosi’s trip, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen today called the Chinese military maneuvers that allegedly crossed the dividing line an “irresponsible act.”
This imaginary line in the strait has functioned as the unofficial but tacitly respected border for China and Taiwan for decades.
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A “qualitative leap”
The Chinese drills are being held in six areas around the island, including one about 20 kilometers off the coast of Kaohsiung, the southern Taiwan capital, and that’s despite China holding other drills in the Taiwan Straits in recent years, including this one Week are different because “they are designed to cover a larger area, involve more military elements and be highly effective,” said Chinese defense experts quoted by local media.
These large-scale war games, which will last through Sunday and which Taiwan has described as “a blockade, represent a qualitative leap in the past dynamic and are likely irreversible.” It’s something that will go beyond these maneuvers and a trend that will continue,” he explained to Efe. Xulio RiosDirector of the Observatory of Chinese Politics.
Ríos predicted that from this crisis onward, China “will certainly exert increased military pressure on Taiwan” and “try to ensure greater de facto control over the island and its environs,” while explaining that the maneuvers are “representative.” the prelude to a major shift in China’s military approach to Taiwan.”