The large-scale drills are the latest to take place, with Beijing flying fighter jets near the island, triggering fears over possible attacks on Taipei.
The Arab League expressed its support to “China’s sovereignty” on Tuesday, as US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi made a controversial trip to Taiwan.
The remarks came in a phone call between the Arab League’s Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki and Liao Liqiang, China’s ambassador to Cairo and Plenipotentiary to the Arab League.
“Zaki stressed that the position of the Arab League is based on supporting China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and firm commitment to the one-China principle, noting that the Secretary-General is looking forward to a quick breakthrough to the Taiwan crisis,” read a statement by the bloc.
The conversation took place as Pelosi headed to Taipei amid heightened tensions between the US and China. Pelosi is the most senior US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
The Joe Biden administration stated that while it does not support independence for Taiwan, Pelosi has the right to visit the island. Taiwan is only recognised by just 13 countries and the Vatican.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi described Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan as a “manic, irresponsible and highly irrational” act by Washington. Several foreign government’s foreign ministries have condemned Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
New military drills
Beijing warned of “consequences” in response to Pelosi’s visit, adding that six exclusion zones surrounding Taiwan will be used to facilitate live-fire military drills.
Shortly after Pelosi left, China began conducting military drills in six areas surrounding Taiwan that would later end on Sunday, as China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The drills include live firing on waters and airspace around Taipei, with two missiles already launched near Taiwan’s Matsu islands. Officials from Taiwan slammed the drills as a breach of UN rules, describing the move as “irresponsible, illegitimate behaviour.”
“They flew in and then flew out, again and again. They continue to harass us,” the Taiwanese source told Reuters on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the European Union called for dialogue and open communication channels with China to avoid a rise in tensions.
“The EU has an interest in preserving peace and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” a spokesperson for the EU said.
The large-scale drills are the latest to take place, with Beijing flying fighter jets near the island, triggering fears over possible attacks on Taipei.
In 2020, Taiwan accused China of breaching its privacy by hacking into at least 10 Taiwanese government agencies and 6,000 official email accounts since 2018.
Cyber attacks occurred during Taiwan’s 2020 elections, in which disinformation campaigns were launched on social media.
In an effort to apply further pressure on Taiwan, China restricted tourism to the island, leading to a significant drop of tourists from more than four million in 2015 to 2.7 million in 2019.
For decades,tensions between China and Taiwan over the latter’s status continued to rise. China has long vowed to “unify” the island with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Home to 23 million people, Taiwan has its own democratically elected government and ranked as the world’s eight-most-democratic country in 2021 by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index.
