TAIPEI: China said on Wednesday that President Tsai Ing-wen was pushing Taiwan into “stormy seas” after Beijing held military exercises in response to Tsai’s recent meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

Tsai said the overseas trip, which included the meeting with McCarthy in the US and stops in Guatemala and Belize, showed the world Taiwan’s determination to defend freedom and democracy. China views Tsai as a separatist and has rebuffed repeated calls from her for talks. Tsai says she wants peace but that her government will defend Taiwan if it is attacked.

“Tsai Ing-wen brought danger to Taiwan. Tsai Ing-wen almost completely sided the United States, pushing Taiwan into stormy seas,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said on Wednesday.

Zhu said the drills around Taiwan were “a serious warning against the collusion and provocation of Taiwan independence separatist forces and external forces”. Tsai, who returned to Taiwan a day before the drills began, said the trip had been a success in winning support against an aggressor that was threatening the island’s freedom.

Taipei claims it convinced Beijing to rein in no-fly zone plan

“Through this trip we again sent a message to the international community that Taiwan is determined to safeguard freedom and democracy which won acknowledgment and support from our democratic partners,” Tsai said as she met Canadian lawmakers at her office in Taipei. “Faced with continued authoritarian expansionism it is even more critical for democracies to actively unite,” she added.

No-fly zone

Taiwan said on Wednesday it had successfully urged China to drastically cut its plan to close airspace north of the island, averting wider travel disruption in a period of high tension in the region due to China’s military exercises.

China has not commented on the no-fly zone but South Korea, which was also briefed on the plans, said it was due to an object falling from a satellite launch vehicle.

China initially notified Taipei it would impose a no-fly zone between April 16-18, but Taiwan’s transport ministry said that was later reduced to a period of just 27 minutes on Sunday morning after it objected.

A senior Taiwan official familiar with the matter said that due to the potential disruption it had used “multiple channels” including diplomacy, intelligence and aviation authorities to dissuade China from carrying out its original plan. The official said Taiwan had informed all parties that would be impacted by the Chinese request, including some Group of Seven (G7) countries whose foreign ministers are set to travel to Japan for a meeting from April 16-18. “Everyone found that to be unbelievable,” the official said.

Yan Yu-hsien, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence from Taiwan’s defence ministry, said the no-fly zone would fall within the country’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ), about 85 nautical miles north of its shores.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he was unaware of the situation when asked at a regular daily press conference on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2023