US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan calls China’s military exercises around Taiwan “irresponsible”. In an interview with National Public Radio on Wednesday, Sullivan said the exercises announced by the Chinese army “make the chance of an incident real”. Meanwhile, Taiwan reports a first confrontation with unidentified aircraft, believed to be Chinese drones. The website of the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense is also said to have been hacked.
China will begin military exercises lasting five days on Thursday, immediately after the controversial visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As a result, Taiwan’s air and sea space has been blocked. The Taiwan Strait is one of the busiest straits in the world.
Sullivan denounced that the Chinese military “may be engaged in, among other things, missile tests and target practice with live ammunition”. He calls on the Chinese authorities to take responsibility and thus “avoid any misstep or miscalculation in the air or at sea”. China sees Taiwan as a renegade province and calls Pelosi’s visit a violation of its sovereignty, for which it should be punished.
Taiwan, meanwhile, reports that unidentified aircraft, believed to be drones, were sighted Wednesday night over Taiwan’s Kinmen Island, just a few miles off the Chinese coast but belonging to Taiwan. The drones would have been ‘deterred’ with flares.
The website of the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense is said to have been hacked on Thursday and as a result had been offline for some time, the army further reports. Earlier this week, several Taiwanese government websites were also hacked, authorities said they were hackers operating from China and Russia.