Taiwan wary of China's maritime movements after Beijing denounces US Speaker meeting
Taiwan said it was keeping a close watch on a Chinese aircraft carrier and threats from China to board ships in the Taiwan Strait on Thursday after Beijing condemned a meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Chinese carrier, the Shandong, was spotted on Wednesday and was 200 nautical miles off Taiwan's east coast, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told reporters at parliament in Taipei.
Tsai and McCarthy's meeting took place at a low ebb of US-China relations and despite threats of retaliation from Beijing, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own.
In March of last year, the Shandong sailed through the Taiwan Strait, just hours before the Chinese and US presidents were due to talk. China staged war games around Taiwan last August after then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei.
Mixed reactions in Taipei over possible China retaliation to Tsai-McCarthy meeting
Taipei residents expressed mixed reactions on Thursday to possible retaliation from China over Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s recent meeting with United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Tsai met with McCarthy on Wednesday in California, where the two discussed how to speed up arms deliveries to Taiwan among other topics.
McCarthy is the most senior U.S. figure to meet a Taiwanese leader on US soil in decades. China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has denounced the meeting and threatened retaliation, although has not specified what its reaction might be.
It was business as usual at a local market in Taiwan’s capital Taipei on Thursday. While 56-year-old Wilson Chuang said he supported Tsai’s meeting with McCarthy, others expressed worry over the possibility of conflict breaking out.
"I'm really worried about it. Even though I’m past the age of needing to serve in the army, our next generation of kids still needs to,” said 64-year-old retiree, Sam Lin.
Reuters
