Taiwan

Such drills "have invaded Taiwan's territorial space" and "amount to a blockade of Taiwan's air and sea space", the military said, BBC reported. Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has also criticised the drills, saying they are an unnecessary reaction and Taiwan was committed to maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

The speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night despite fierce protests from China, becoming the highest-level official to make a formal trip there in decades. In a statement, she said her move "honours America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant democracy".

An announcement from the People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command said beginning Tuesday night a series of exercises would be held on the sea and in the air surrounding Taiwan, the self-governed island that China says is its sovereign territory, CNN reported. The Eastern Theater is one of the five joint commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) with jurisdiction over China's eastern coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, which sit opposite and above Taiwan.

Wei Fenghe made the remarks while addressing the ongoing 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's premier defence summit. On a question regarding Taiwan, Wei said that "Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwan question is China's internal affair", reports Xinhua news agency. "China will definitely realise its reunification. Those who pursue "Taiwan independence in an attempt to split China will definitely come to no good end, and foreign interference is doomed to failure", he said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Taiwan is an integral part of China and will eventually return "to the arms of the motherland". He recalled that some forces in the US, in order to contain China, encourage those who advocate Taiwan independence, thereby challenging the "one China" principle, RT reported.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang justified the increase in budget citing the defence of the country’s security and territorial sovereignty. “Government at all levels must give strong support to the development of national defence and the armed forces, so unity between the military and government and between the military and the people will remain rock solid,” Premier Li told the National People's Congress (NPC).  

“What the US report says about China's Taiwan region is a gross interference in China's internal affairs and violation of the one-China principle and the basic norms governing international relations. We are firmly opposed to that," said a Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday,” said Chinese defense spokesperson Colonel Tan Kefei.

“From the standpoint of will China see what's happening in Europe and... try to do something here in the Indo-Pacific -- absolutely yes, that's a concern…I do have my concerns that they would want to take advantage… It won't be surprising if they tried something that may be provocative, and see how the international community reacts,” General Kenneth Wilsbach, the head of US Pacific Air Forces said on the sidelines of the Singapore Air Show.  

President Jinping began the proceedings by projecting China’s handling of COVID pandemic as a rare success in terms of breaking the COVID infection chain as well as posting healthy economic growth rates in the past two years when the global economy has shrunk. China recently reported that its economy grew by 8.1 percent for the 2021-22 financial year which led to GDP expansion to USD 18 trillion

In July 2021, Lithuania became the first European Union member to permit Taiwan to open its de-facto representative outpost in Vilnius using its own name. A Majority of countries across the world avoid establishing official diplomatic channels with Taiwan in order to preclude a diplomatic backlash from China. When the office was officially inaugurated in November, China officially downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania as well as imposed an informal trade embargo on goods from the Baltic state