This live blog is now closed.
For all the latest coverage of the Taiwan crisis please read our most recent live blog in the link below.
Summary
Thank you for joining us for today’s live coverage.
We will be launching a new blog shortly. In the meantime, you can read our comprehensive summary of the day’s events below.
-
Taiwan’s defence ministry accused Chinese aircraft and ships of carrying out simulation attack exercises on its main island on Saturday. Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were detected in the Taiwan Strait, 14 of which crossed the median line – an unofficial buffer separating the two sides – according to the ministry. Taiwan’s army used patrolling naval ships and put shore-based missiles on stand-by in response.
-
The White House has condemned the escalation in military drills. “These activities are a significant escalation in China’s efforts to change the status quo. They are provocative, irresponsible, and raise the risk of miscalculation,” a spokesperson said.
-
China has accused the US of interfering in Beijing’s internal affairs. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said the US should have stopped Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.
- The Chinese embassy warned Australia against involvement in its actions over Taiwan, saying “finger-pointing” against Beijing was unacceptable. Australia’s foreign minister Penny Wong earlier condemned Beijing’s “disproportionate and destabilising” actions, saying she had expressed her concern to her Chinese counterpart at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia.
- Taiwan’s defence ministry said its naval forces are keeping tabs on China’s military vessels off the eastern coast. It comes after Taiwan accused Chinese aircraft and ships of carrying out simulation attack exercises on its main island on Saturday.
- The People’s Liberation Army’s eastern theatre command said it continued on Saturday to conduct sea and air joint exercises north, southwest and east of Taiwan, as planned. It said its focus was on testing the system’s land strike and sea assault capabilities.
- The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said China should not hold talks on important global matters such as the climate crisis “hostage”, after Beijing cut off contacts with Washington in retaliation for US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan earlier this week.
- Speaking at a rally in Wisconsin, the former US president Donald Trump has questioned why Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. He told supporters: “What was she doing in Taiwan? She was China’s dream, she gave them an excuse. They’ve been looking for that excuse.”
- A Taiwan official who was in charge of various missile production projects was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room in southern Taiwan, according to the official Central News Agency. Ou Yang Li-hsing, the deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, was 57. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.
- The US, Australian and Japanese foreign ministers have urged China to immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan. In a joint statement, officials expressed their concern about China’s recent actions “that gravely affect international peace and stability, including the use of large-scale military exercises”. They also condemned China’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government reported landed in its exclusive economic zones “raising tension and destabilising the region”.
- Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, said Chinese military drills near Taiwan were a threat to regional security. Beijing announced four days of drills that are expected to finish on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens”, Kishida said.
- North Korea has denounced Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability”, after the US House speaker expressed her commitment during a visit to South Korea to achieving the North’s denuclearisation. It also condemned her trip to Taiwan.
Updated
