China said it carried out military exercises around Taiwan on Friday as a US Congressional delegation visits the island, in a move the People’s Liberation Army said was a response to “wrong signals” sent. by the Americans.
China’s military has deployed frigates and fighter jets to the East China Sea and the area around Taiwan, People’s Liberation Army Eastern Command spokesman Shi Yilu said, according to Chinese state broadcaster.
“This operation is in response to the recent frequent broadcasting of wrong signals by the United States on the Taiwan issue,” Shi said, without mentioning visiting US lawmakers.
“US misdeeds and tricks are completely futile and very dangerous. Those who play with fire will get burned,” he said.
During a meeting this Friday with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, US Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the island is a “country of global importance” and its security has implications for the world. world.
Menendez is among a bipartisan group of six US lawmakers who are making a visit to show support for the democratic island in the face of Chinese pressure.
Such visits, and a reference to Taiwan as a “country”, irritate Beijing, which dismisses any such suggestion. China considers the island one of its provinces.
The United States has no formal relationship with Taiwan, claimed by the Chinese, but is its most important international sponsor and arms supplier.
Menendez acknowledged that the Chinese government was “very dissatisfied” with the delegation’s visit, but that did not dissuade the group from supporting Taiwan.
“With Taiwan producing 90% of the world’s high-end semiconductors, it is a country of global importance and impact, and therefore it must be understood that its security has a global impact,” Menendez told Tsai at a meeting at the presidential office broadcast to the press. alive.
Taiwan was emboldened by the US support offered by the Biden administration, which has repeatedly spoken of its “solid” commitment to the democratically governed island, which has heightened tensions in Sino-US relations.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also put Taipei on alert for possible moves by Beijing to use the crisis in Ukraine to make a move on the island. The government has not reported any unusual Chinese activity.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham told Tsai during the delegation meeting that the war in Ukraine and China’s provocative behavior has brought US opinion together in a way never seen before. “We’ll be with you. Abandoning Taiwan will be abandoning democracy and freedom,” he said.
The delegation, which arrived on Thursday from Australia for an unannounced two-day trip, will also meet Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng. .
Source: CNN Brasil
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