It was not clear where the drone’s journey ended, with some news outlets reporting that it circumnavigated the island. Taiwan’s military exercises this week are scheduled annually and are not specifically connected to current events. The next day, Taiwan’s president boarded a warship in the area to inspect defence drills, prompting some analysts to suggest the drone flight was a warning. It tracked the PLA’s TB-001 drone through the Miyako Strait, from the East China Sea into the Pacific near Taiwan. On Monday, Japan’s defence ministry reported that a Chinese armed reconnaissance drone had flown near Taiwan on a solo mission for the first time. In recent years the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air force has sent increasing numbers of warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) amid a ratcheting up of “greyzone” activities designed to test Taiwan’s responsiveness and wear out its resources. Officials have warned of “consequences” should the visit go ahead, with some speculation there could be military activity which could escalate or cause an accident. “But should also pay attention to the military if it’s going to cause a blowback and escalate things.”īeijing has made strong objections to a visit by Pelosi, who would be the highest ranked US government official since the then House speaker Newt Gingrich visited in 1997. It shows political deterrence to President Xi,” McCaul told NBC. However, some have expressed concern that the timing – reported to be next month – comes at a particularly sensitive moment in domestic Chinese politics which could cause a more aggressive response from the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. Supporters of the trip say it would be a strong show of support for Taiwan, which Beijing claims is a breakaway Chinese province which must be reunified, by force if necessary. There has been no formal confirmation from the speaker or the White House, and Taipei will not comment until there has. The on-record comments from McCaul and Eshoo are the first apparent confirmation of the planned trip since it was reported last week by the Financial Times.
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