Taiwan’s capital staged air raid drills Monday and its military mobilised for routine defence exercises, coinciding with concerns over a forceful Chinese response to a possible visit to the island by US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
While there was no direct link between China’s renewed threats and Taiwan’s defensive moves, they underscore the possibility of a renewed crisis in the Taiwan Strait, considered a potential hotspot for conflict that could envelop the entire region.
Air raid sirens were sounded in the capital Taipei and the military was holding its annual multi-day Han Kuang drills, including joint air and sea exercises and the mobilization of tanks and troops.
In Taipei, police directed people to shelters when a siren went off shortly after lunchtime. Streets emptied and shops closed.
“In recent years, Chinese military planes have frequently harassed Taiwan, and the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out in February this year," Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je told reporters, referencing concerns that a similar conflict could break out in East Asia.”All these things make us understand the importance of being vigilant in times of peace and we need to be prepared if there is war."
Pelosi has not confirmed when, or even if, she will visit, but President Joe Biden last week told reporters that US military officials believed such a trip was”not a good idea". Administration officials are believed to be critical of a possible trip, both for the problematic timing and the lack of coordination with the White House.
China’s authoritarian ruling Communist Party considers democratic, self-ruling Taiwan its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary, and regularly advertises that threat by staging military exercises and flying warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone or across the centre line of the 180-km (100-mile) -wide Taiwan Strait.
Beijing says those actions are aimed at deterring advocates of the island’s formal independence and foreign allies - principally the US - from interfering, more than 70 years after the sides split amid civil war. Surveys routinely show that Taiwan’s 23 million people reject China’s assertions that the island is a Chinese province that has strayed and must be brought under Beijing’s control.
Pelosi, long a sharp critic of Beijing, is second in line to the White House. She is viewed as a Biden proxy by China, which demands members of Congress follow the commitments made by previous administrations.
Taiwan is among the few issues that enjoys broad bipartisan support among lawmakers and within the administration, with Biden stating earlier this year that the US would defend Taiwan if it came under attack.