MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China announces sanctions against the US and Pelosi

Chinese large-scale war games are expected to last until Sunday; Taiwan has described them as “a blockade”

China Friday imposed an entry ban on its territory against US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the entourage accompanying her earlier this week to Taiwan in defiance of Beijing's advice not to fuel tensions regarding what the Asian country considers to be a rogue province.

 Sanctions are extended to Pelosi's nearest of kin. The Congresswoman was determined to have undermined “the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the Asian country. The measures include a ban on entry to China for Pelosi and her close associates, with no further details released. China has dubbed Pelosi's Taiwan stop a “farce” and a “deplorable betrayal.”

The Chinese Government also decided to suspend all cooperation mechanisms and upped its military deployment in the Strait of Formosa.

In total, Beijing announced eight retaliatory measures, such as the suspension of judicial cooperation, repatriation of illegal immigrants, criminal legal assistance, combating transnational crime and climate change, as well as canceling all talks between troop commanders, defense ministry officials of either side as well as those of the Military Maritime Security Consultation Mechanism, thus ending all trust between the armed forces of the two superpowers at a time when tensions in the Taiwan Strait are at a level not seen since the 1990s.

China also summoned diplomatic representatives from Europe, the European Union, Japan, and Canada for the statements made by the G7 foreign ministers regarding Taiwan. The ministers had called on Beijing on Thursday to refrain from using Pelosi's recent visit as “a pretext for aggressive military action in the Taiwan Strait.”

Taiwanese authorities said that up to 68 aircraft and 13 Chinese ships were still operating in the Taiwan Strait and that some of them crossed the middle line of the Strait of Formosa during the second day of the military maneuvers initiated by Beijing Thursday.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called the Chinese military maneuvers that allegedly crossed the dividing line an “irresponsible act”.

This imaginary line in the strait functions as an unofficial but tacitly respected border between China and Taiwan for the past decades.

Although China has conducted other drills in the Taiwan Strait, this week's are different because they cover a larger area and involve more military units, it was reported. The large-scale war games are expected to last until Sunday. Taiwan has described them as “a blockade.”

Chinese exercises included long-range conventional missiles, which “hit the target with precision,” according to defense sources. Taiwanese authorities said they had “instant knowledge” of the launching of the missiles thanks to “reconnaissance and surveillance” tasks.

However, Japanese military sources said that five Chinese ballistic missiles had allegedly fallen in Japan's EEZ. Five Chinese missiles were also reported to have flown over Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the US government said Friday that it wants to maintain open lines of communication with China. National Security Council Communications Coordinator John Kirby urged China to do the same and try to keep those lines open. He insisted that “not all channels of communication between the military leaders are closed.”

According to Kirby, this issue was one of the topics discussed Thursday during the White House meeting with China's ambassador in Washington, Qin Gang, who had been summoned over the military exercises around Taiwan.