Show of force comes after Taiwanese president Tsai met US House speaker McCarthy this week, despite Beijing warning against it
China began a second day of drills around Taiwan on Sunday as the island’s defence ministry reported multiple air force sorties and said it was monitoring the movement of China’s missile forces, as the US said it was watching too.
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, began three days of military exercises around the island on Saturday, the day after Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen returned from a brief visit to the US.
While a security source told Reuters most of Saturday’s activities ended by sundown, Taiwan’s defence ministry said they had resumed on Sunday and the island’s military had spotted multiple aircraft including Su-30 and J-11 fighters, as well as ships.
“Regarding the movements of the Chinese Communists’ Rocket Force, the nation’s military also has a close grasp through the joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system, and air defence forces remain on high alert,” the ministry said.
The People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force is in charge of China’s land-based missile system.
Last August, after a visit to Taipei by then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, China staged war games around Taiwan including firing missiles into waters close to the island, though it has yet to announce similar drills this time.
While in Los Angeles last week, on what was officially billed a transit on her way back from Central America, Tsai met the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, despite Beijing’s warnings against it.
