China's Ministry Of Defense: Tensions In The Taiwan Strait Were Created By The US And They Must Be Held Accountable

Taiwan flag. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Chinese military forces continue to carry out serious exercises -- at an unprecedented level -- around Taiwan. China accuses the US of being the cause of the increasingly unfavorable situation.

China is not just talking. The arrival of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan is considered the root cause of this tense situation.

The Chinese military posted about their drills practicing anti-submarine strikes and naval strikes on Monday, August 8. This is the fourth day of unprecedented practice around Taiwan.

“The current tense situation in the Taiwan Strait was completely provoked and created by the US side on its own initiative, and the US side must bear it. Full responsibility and serious consequences for this," defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

"The point is unbreakable, and communication requires sincerity," Wu said.

Pelosi's visit last week angered China. China fired several missiles around Taiwan on Thursday as it launched an unprecedented military exercise, a day after Nancy Pelosi's visit.

As Pelosi's plane took off from Songshan airport on Wednesday evening, Taiwan faced days of military activity that threatened to escalate into a fourth Taiwan strait crisis.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry has accused Beijing of plotting to violate international conventions on the law of the sea, by violating Taiwan's sovereign territory.

Meanwhile, China's military frequently conducts live-fire drills in the strait and surrounding seas, planned this week to surround Taiwan's main island and target areas within its territorial sea.

Veerle Nouwens, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, said the location of the six exclusion zones was noteworthy.

Pentagon, state department and White House officials condemned the move, describing it as an irresponsible overreaction.

The severance of some of China's communications with the US military raises the risk of an unintentional escalation of Taiwan at a critical time, according to security analysts and diplomats.

A US official noted that Chinese officials did not respond to calls from senior Pentagon officials amid the tensions last week, but they did not see this as an official break with senior figures, such as US defense secretary Lloyd Austin.