China responded to Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan with a massive show of military force on Thursday. Beijing launched a series of brazen military exercises which saw around 10 Chinese naval ships crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line while fighter jets also broke the unofficial boundary, sources said. Japan reported that five ballistic missiles landed in Japanese waters in its exclusive economic zone, causing the government to file a diplomatic protest to the Chinese government, according to The New York Times. The Chinese state broadcaster CCTV also bragged that the People’s Liberation Army carried out live-fire exercises and “precision strikes” on eastern areas of the strait. Defense officials in Taiwan reported that “a number” of Dongfeng ballistic missiles splashed down in the waters off the coast of the island on Thursday afternoon. The worrying escalation in maneuvers comes the day after House Speaker Pelosi departed Taiwan following a visit which infuriated Chinese authorities, who see Taiwan as part of their own territory.
