(Beijing) So 3 days after Lai Ching-te was sworn in as the new President of Taiwan where in his inaugural speech he asked China to stop its military and political threats, that peace was the only choice and that Beijing had to respect the choice of the Taiwanese people. Fair enough request you’d think, but apparently not so to Beijing whose response was something of an infantile hissy fit accusing Lai of seeking independence and destabilising the region. In retaliation, Beijing sanctioned three US defence contractors over arms sales to Taiwan, and former US congressman Mike Gallagher for visiting the Taipei. It lashed out at US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for congratulating Lai. This it followed up with a full on set of Military exercises which completely surrounded and cut off the Island from the world for the 2 day exercise period which was aimed to intimidate, and threaten Taiwan for voting in a China skeptic as their new president and not voting as China demands. In other words the actions of a bully.
The People’s Liberation Army has launched a two-day exercise around Taiwan, “testing joint combat capabilities” by blockading the island. Read more: https://t.co/5nZjusrNnD pic.twitter.com/mrT3VsPtCL
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) May 23, 2024
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Picture taken from Damien Symon Twitter site |
Giant fireballs explode into the air following an attack on #Taiwan in this graphic on #China Central Television CCTV which just went to air in a story about the People’s Liberation Army exercises over the last two days. pic.twitter.com/Z1FdXUvXmN
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) May 24, 2024