Beijing is stepping up pressure on Taiwan after Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island.

Twenty-seven Chinese military aircraft entered the peninsula's air defense zone on Wednesday, August 3, Taiwan authorities announced on Twitter.

These aircraft "entered the surrounding area (Air Defense Identification Zone, wider than airspace, editor's note) on August 3, 2022," said the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense.

Twenty-one Chinese military planes had also entered this airspace the day before, the day when the American speaker of the House of Representatives was in Taiwan.

China's Commerce Ministry also announced economic sanctions, including a suspension of exports to Taiwan of natural sand - a key component in the manufacture of semiconductors, one of the island's top exports.

Chinese customs have also suspended the import of citrus fruits and certain fish from Taiwan.

27 PLA aircraft (J-11*6, J-16*5 and SU-30*16) entered the surrounding area of ​​ROC on August 3, 2022. Please check our official website for more information: https://t.co /m1gW2N4ZL7 pic.twitter.com/Aw71EgmRjj

— 國防部 Ministry of National Defense, ROC 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) August 3, 2022

The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense assured, meanwhile, that the army would "protect national security".

Several American ships also cruise in the region, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, according to American military sources.

Military maneuvers around Taiwan on Thursday

Although US officials regularly visit the island, China considers the visit of Nancy Pelosi, the third person in the US state, to be a major provocation.

Last week, in a telephone interview with his counterpart Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping had already called on the United States not to "play with fire".

>> Nancy Pelosi in Taiwan: In a risky period for Xi Jinping, Beijing shows the muscles

Since 1979, Washington has recognized only one Chinese government, that of Beijing, while continuing to provide support to the Taiwanese authorities, in particular via major arms sales.

The United States also practices "strategic ambiguity", refraining from saying whether or not it would militarily defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion.

China's Defense Ministry has promised "targeted military actions", with a series of military maneuvers around the island to begin on Thursday, including "long-range live ammunition firing" in the Taiwan Strait, which separates the island in mainland China.

These exercises "constitute a necessary and legitimate measure in order to respond to the serious provocations of certain American politicians and Taiwanese separatists", Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told the press.

China 'will retaliate vigorously' if Taiwan reacts

"Faced with deliberately increased military threats, Taiwan will not back down," responded the Taiwanese president.

"We will (...) continue to defend democracy," she said during her meeting with Nancy Pelosi, whom she thanked for having "taken concrete steps to show (her) unwavering support for Taiwan. at this critical moment".

>> In Taiwan, "the more China's military capacity increases, the greater the risk of invasion"

According to the coordinates published by the Chinese army, part of the military operations must take place 20 kilometers from the coast of Taiwan.

"Some of China's maneuver areas encroach on...Taiwan's territorial waters," Taiwan Defense Ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang said.

The Chinese military maneuvers planned by Beijing will encircle Taiwan.

© FMM Graphic Studio

But China "will retaliate vigorously" if the Taiwanese military seeks to disrupt its military exercises, an unnamed source in the Chinese military told AFP on Wednesday.

"If the Taiwanese forces voluntarily come into contact with (the Chinese army) and accidentally fire a shot, (the Chinese army) will retaliate vigorously and it will be up to the Taiwanese side to bear all the consequences." , she clarified.

For its part, Japan said it was "concerned" about the Chinese exercises, saying that some would encroach on its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

With AFP

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