China fires 'precision missile strikes' in Taiwan Strait day after Nancy Pelosi concludes controversial visit

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Lawrence Richard | Fox News


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China claimed its military successfully executed "precision missile strikes" in the Taiwan Strait Thursday, a day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left the island.

China repeatedly condemned Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, and threatened to take action. On her final day in Taiwan, China’s navy and air force began conducting military exercises in six zones around Taiwan, with some overlapping Taiwan’s territorial waters.

The U.S. responded by deploying several warships to the area.

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"Long-range armed live fire precision missile strikes were carried out on selected targets in the eastern area of the Taiwan Strait," the Eastern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, the ruling Communist Party's military wing, said in a statement.

"The expected outcome was achieved," China's military added.

The military command did not provide additional details.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said its own military forces were monitoring the Chinese movements while careful to avoid any confrontation that could risk escalating the situation.

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China's "irrational behavior" has disrupted peace and stability in the region, the ministry said.

"The three service branches will combine efforts with all the people to jointly safeguard national security and territorial integrity" of Taiwan, the statement said.

Xinhua News Agency, China’s official media, reported the military exercises were focused on "blockade, sea target assault, strike on ground targets, and airspace control."

The exercises are expected to run from Thursday to Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Hank Berrien - The Daily Wire


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On Thursday, Taiwan said that Communist China fired a number of Dongfeng series ballistic missiles into waters by Taiwan’s northeast and southwest.
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Other reports said the Taiwanese government asserted that Communist China had fired two missiles from the nearby Matsu Islands.
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Further reports stated that roughly ten Chinese navy ships crossed the Taiwan Strait median line.
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Meanwhile, President Biden’s administration reportedly has been lobbying against a bill that would support Taiwan by naming it a major non-NATO ally, according to people familiar with the matter. The bill would give $4.5 billion in security aid and support its presence in international organizations.

Although one of the sponsors of the bill is New Jersey Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) proclaimed, “The White House has significant concerns. … I have significant concerns,” according to Bloomberg. Murphy confirmed the Foreign Relations panel is stalling the bill; it was to have been voted on Wednesday.

Co-sponsor Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) commented, “It’s a miscalculation of how to keep the world in order. At every turn they take the weakest path.”

“If you put this on the floor of the Senate it would pass overwhelmingly,” he added.

Before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week, China’s foreign ministry issued a protest to the United States, threatening that a visit “seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China’s defense ministry said it would launch “targeted military operations,” France 24 reported, adding, “The Chinese military announced joint air and sea drills near Taiwan starting on Tuesday night and test launch of conventional missiles in the sea east of Taiwan, with Chinese state news agency Xinhua describing live-fire drills and other exercises around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday.”

Last Thursday, according to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Chinese leader Xi Jinping threatened the U.S. in a conversation with President Joe Biden about America’s ties to Taiwan. “Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the U.S. will be clear-eyed about this,” the Chinese statement said Xi warned.

On Tuesday, Max Baucus, former President Barack Obama’s U.S. Ambassador to China, told CNN, “Poor Joe Biden. He looks weak because he either told her [Pelosi] not to go and it looks weak to the Chinese guys or he’s weak because he told her not to go and she went anyway. And that makes us look a little bit weak to the Chinese.”

“I got to tell you, during the time I was serving in Beijing, one thing I really learned: Chinese understand strength better than do people in any other country, and they could smell weakness 100 miles away,” he added. “We’ve got to be strong but strong in the best sense.”

[lost in melb.]

I don't know if Biden is being deliberately ambiguous, but it looks weak. Whatever you say about Pelosi domestically I think she'd make a more decisive commander-in-chief than Biden.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

damn, they missed her

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I don't know if Biden is being deliberately ambiguous, but it looks weak. Whatever you say about Pelosi domestically I think she'd make a more decisive commander-in-chief than Biden.


‘Hurting Xi’s Feelings?’: Doocy Asks Jean-Pierre Why Republicans Are More Supportive Of Pelosi’s Trip Than Biden
NICOLE SILVERIO, MEDIA REPORTER - The Daily Caller


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Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre why Republicans have shown more support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan than President Joe Biden.

Doocy pointed to Republicans’ appraisal of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan during Wednesday’s press briefing, noting the White House expressed hesitation about her trip due to China’s ongoing threats.

“How come Republicans seem more jazzed about Speaker Pelosi’s trip than the president?” Doocy asked.

“You’re going to have to ask Republicans,” Jean-Pierre said. “Jazzed? Do they have jazz hands, Peter?”

“We can have our [Capitol] Hill team check,” he said.

Doocy cited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling the trip “important” and Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham saying the idea of Pelosi going is the “right” thing to do.

“Is President Biden just worried about hurting [Chinese President] Xi’s [Jinping] feelings?” Doocy continued.

“So you’re saying, because they said that, then we’re not jazzed? We’ve been very clear for the past week or so that the speaker has the right to go to Taiwan,” the press secretary replied.

“Why is it so hard for the president just to say ‘she’s a brave trailblazer and I think it’s great that she went’ like so many others,” he said. “Does he think that it was good that she went?”

Jean-Pierre said the White House will “not dictate” the delegations of congressional members, adding they have a right to travel where they please. She emphasized the administration’s role in giving congressional members a “thorough” analysis of the state, geo-politics of the region and national security information.

In a statement led by Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, 26 Republican senators affirmed their support for Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.

“We support Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan,” the statement read. “For decades, members of the United States Congress, including previous Speakers of the House, have travelled to Taiwan. This travel is consistent with the United States’ One China policy to which we are committed. We are also committed now, more than ever, to all elements of the Taiwan Relations Act.”

Doocy then asked if the trip was “worth the trouble” given that the Chinese Army has deployed troops around Taiwan. The press secretary repeated the White House’s previous remarks that it is unnecessary for the Chinese to act aggressively towards the trip, given that the trip is consistent with previous U.S. policy.

“The United States will not seek and does not want a crisis,” she said. “But we are prepared to manage what Beijing chooses to do.”

The Fox News reporter asked Jean-Pierre if Biden takes threats from China seriously, citing a Chinese official threatening the U.S. by stating it must “pay the price for their mistake.” Jean-Pierre repeated that the U.S. is not seeking to wage conflict with China and that nothing has changed in regards to the One China policy, which affirms the U.S.’ recognition of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as the only legitimate government of China.

Biden spoke to Xi about Pelosi’s trip Thursday, expressing the U.S. “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” Biden previously told reporters that the military does not think the trip is a good idea.

[lost in melb.]

Exactly.