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Taiwan scrambled jets to warn away 49 Chinese aircraft in its air defence zone, the Taiwanese defence ministry said, Reuters reported. At least 30 Chinese aircrafts crossed the Taiwan Strait median line, a ministry statement said.
China will not be able to isolate Taiwan by preventing United States officials from traveling there, US. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday in Tokyo as she wrapped up an Asia tour that has escalated tensions in the region, Reuters reported. “They may try to keep Taiwan from visiting or participating in other places, but they will not isolate Taiwan by preventing us to travel there,” she said, defending her trip to the island nation that infuriated China. Pelosi said her visit to Taiwan was not intended to change the status quo for the island but to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan and mainland China.
Earlier in the day, China said it is suspending dialogue with the United States on issues from climate change to military relations and anti-drug efforts in retaliation for a visit this week to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to AP. This response is the latest in a series of targeted steps intended to punish Washington for allowing the visit to the island it claims as its own territory.
This come as China continues to hold threatening military exercises in six zones off Taiwan’s coasts. China’s military exercises aimed at Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, represent a “significant escalation,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday.