China tells U.S. it can't 'treat other countries like George Floyd' and 'bully and strangle them at will' as it severs cooperation with Washington and fires ballistic missiles after Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan trip

  • China has halted dialogue with the US on climate change, military issues, and anti-drug work in retaliation for Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan visit 
  • China sanctioned U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her 'vicious' and 'provocative' actions
  • Taiwan says multiple Chinese warships and jets crossed unofficial border on Friday morning 
  •  Taipei condemned its 'evil neighbor' China for war games surrounding island 
  • Comes after Beijing fired ballistic 11 missiles over island for the first time during military drills on Thursday 
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned those missile landings as a 'serious escalation' 
  • The Pentagon ordered the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to stay in the region and 'monitor' the situation'

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An enraged China has halted dialogue with the US on climate change, military issues and anti-drug work in invoked the murder of George Floyd as part of their retaliation for Nancy Pelosi's 'provocative' Taiwan visit -with  diplomatic tensions reaching boiling point.

Earlier, Beijing decided to sanction House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her 'vicious' actions and after their military fired 11 ballistic missiles into the Taiwan Strait - with five landing in Japan's exclusion zone - and surrounded the island.

'Despite China's serious concerns and firm opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, seriously interfering in China's internal affairs, undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, trampling on the one-China policy, and threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,' a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

A spokesman for the communist government then compared the United States' behavior to the slaying of George Floyd at the hands of cops in Minneapolis.

Hua Chunying wrote: 'We cannot allow the US to take itself as "world policeman" and treat other countries George Floyd whom it can bully and strangle at will.'

It comes as it emerged that the White House summoned Chinese ambassador Qin Gang on Thursday to condemn escalating actions against Taiwan and reiterate that the United States does not want a crisis in the region.

The Biden administration has thrown their support behind Pelosi's trip as a way to promote democracy in Taiwan and have criticized Beijing's 'sabre rattling' and 'unnecessary' military drills.

'After China's actions overnight, we summoned Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche  him about (China's) provocative actions,' White House spokesman John Kirby told the Washington Post. A démarche is a protest through diplomatic channels.

'We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.'

On Friday morning, Taiwan condemned its 'evil neighbor' China as huge military drills once-again encircled the self-governing island - drawing harsh criticism from its allies. 

Taipei said multiple Chinese warships and fighters today crossed the 'median line' that runs down the center of the Taiwan Strait, separating it from the mainland.

The line is an unofficial but previously widely-recognized border that Beijing insists 'no longer exists,' as it tries to exert control over its much smaller neighbor. 

  • The Pentagon ordered the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to stay in the region and 'monitor' the situation.
  • The Reagan Carrier Strike group has moved into the East China and Philippine seas from its base in Japan  
  • Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized those missile launches and called them a 'significant escalation.
  • The U.S. delayed a test of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to avoid enraging Beijing further. 
  • Japan protested China's missile tests as a 'serious threats to Japan’s national security and safety of its people.
  • Japan’s Defense Ministry also speculated that four missiles flew over Taipei, the capital city
China has decided to sanction U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her 'vicious' and 'provocative' actions, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday
Xi Jinping and Chinese military drills have sent diplomatic tensions to a boiling point since Pelosi's trip

China has decided to sanction U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her 'vicious' and 'provocative' actions, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday

A Chinese fighter jet armed with missiles flies out over the Taiwan Strait early Friday, as Beijing continues to host huge war games around the island

A Chinese fighter jet armed with missiles flies out over the Taiwan Strait early Friday, as Beijing continues to host huge war games around the island

Taipei said multiple Chinese jets and warships (pictured) had today crossed the 'median line' - the unofficial maritime border between the two

Taipei said multiple Chinese jets and warships (pictured) had today crossed the 'median line' - the unofficial maritime border between the two

A Chinese fighter jet - believed to be a J-11 - flies over the Taiwan Strait amid huge war games that are due to continue until Sunday

A Chinese fighter jet - believed to be a J-11 - flies over the Taiwan Strait amid huge war games that are due to continue until Sunday

Chinese rocket artillery opens fire during training drills on Thursday, which saw more than a dozen rockets fired out over the Taiwan Strait

Chinese rocket artillery opens fire during training drills on Thursday, which saw more than a dozen rockets fired out over the Taiwan Strait

A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft flies over the 68-nautical-mile scenic spot, one of mainland China's closest points to Taiwan on Friday as tensions spiralled

A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft flies over the 68-nautical-mile scenic spot, one of mainland China's closest points to Taiwan on Friday as tensions spiralled 

The White House on Friday once again rapped Beijing for its rhetoric and recent escalations.

'We don’t want a crisis. We’re not seeking a crisis,' White House communications coordinator for national security John Kirby told reporters. 'And quite frankly there’s no reason for a crisis to erupt out of this.'

'It’s the Chinese side that has been issuing bellicose rhetoric and threats,' he said. 

He called on China to stop 'provocative military exercises' and end the rhetoric.

'There was nothing inconsistent about the speaker’s trip about the one China policy,' he said, calling China's latest move an 'overreaction.'

He said despite China's move to pull back military contacts with the U.S., there were still channels between 'very senior members,' and that 'unit-to-unit' contacts were still possible.

But he acknowledged that during a 'At a time of tension, and things are certainly tense, you want to be able to talk.'

Beijing's latest moves comes after a day in which China fired barrages of missiles at Taiwan - some of which flew over the island for the first time - as it held massive war games, that state media say are a rehearsal for an invasion. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized those missile launches - some of which landed in Japanese waters - calling them a 'significant escalation.

Beijing began the military drills late Tuesday as Nancy Pelosi, US House Speaker, visited the island and says they will continue until midday Sunday.

Taipei reported that Chinese fighter jets and ships crossed the 'median line' that runs down the Taiwan Strait on Friday morning.

'As of 11am, multiple batches of Chinese warplanes and warships conducted exercises around the Taiwan Strait and crossed the median line of the strait,' Taipei's defense ministry said in a statement.

Chinese incursions have become more common since Beijing declared in 2020 that the unofficial border no longer existed.

AFP journalists on the picturesque Chinese island of Pingtan saw a fighter jet flying overhead, prompting tourists to snap photos as it flew along the coast.

A Chinese military vessel was also visible sailing through the Taiwan Strait, they added.

Beijing has insisted its war games are a 'necessary' response to a visit to the self-ruled, democratic island by Pelosi, but Washington countered that China's leaders had 'chosen to overreact.'

They point out that a similar visit by male senators just weeks before had passed off without a response. 

China on Thursday launched at least 11 ballistic missiles, some of which are thought to have flown over the island for the first time before landing in Japanese waters

China on Thursday launched at least 11 ballistic missiles, some of which are thought to have flown over the island for the first time before landing in Japanese waters

French-made Mirage 2000 fighter jets taxi for take-off at a Taiwanese military base in Hsinchu, near the capital of Taipei, early Friday

French-made Mirage 2000 fighter jets taxi for take-off at a Taiwanese military base in Hsinchu, near the capital of Taipei, early Friday

Taiwan has condemned what it called its 'evil neighbour' China over the drills, which are due to last until Sunday (pictured, a French-made Taiwanese jet taxis for take-off)

Taiwan has condemned what it called its 'evil neighbour' China over the drills, which are due to last until Sunday (pictured, a French-made Taiwanese jet taxis for take-off)

Taiwan Navy's Chi Yang-class frigate Ning Yang (FFG-938) is anchored at a harbour in Keelung city during the spat with China over Nancy Pelosi's trip

Taiwan Navy's Chi Yang-class frigate Ning Yang (FFG-938) is anchored at a harbour in Keelung city during the spat with China over Nancy Pelosi's trip 

Pelosi defended her visit Friday, saying Washington would 'not allow' China to isolate Taiwan.

'We have said from the start that our representation here is not about changing the status quo here in Asia, changing the status quo in Taiwan,' she told reporters in Tokyo on the final leg of an Asia tour.

Taiwan's premier Su Tseng-chang, meanwhile, called for allies to push for de-escalation.

'(We) didn't expect that the evil neighbor next door would show off its power at our door and arbitrarily jeopardize the busiest waterways in the world with its military exercises,' he told reporters.

China's drills involved a 'conventional missile firepower assault' in waters to the east of Taiwan, the Chinese military said.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said the Chinese military 'flew more than 100 warplanes including fighters and bombers' during the exercises, as well as 'over 10 destroyers and frigates'.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that Chinese missiles had flown directly over Taiwan.

Tokyo said five Chinese ballistic missiles were believed to have fallen in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with four of those presumed to have flown over Taiwan's main island.

The EEZ extends up to 200 nautical miles from Japan's coastline, beyond the limits of its territorial waters.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the missile launches as a 'serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens'.

Parts of Japan's southernmost Okinawa region are close to Taiwan, as are islets at the center of a long-running dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.

In May, US President Joe Biden also angered Beijing on a visit to Japan, when he said US forces would defend Taiwan militarily if China attempted to take control of the island by force.

But Biden and his team insisted at the time that their decades-old approach to Taiwan remained in place.

This means support for its government while diplomatically recognizing Beijing over Taipei, and opposing a formal independence declaration by Taiwan or a forceful takeover by China.

On Friday, Pelosi said the United States wanted to find 'common ground' with China on issues from rights to climate change.

'Again, it isn't about our visit determining what the US-China relationship is. It's a much bigger and longer-term challenge, and one that we have to recognize that we have to work together in certain areas,' she said.

Tetsuo Kotani, a professor at Meikai University and senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, said the Chinese drills could give the Japanese public a 'more realistic' view of Tokyo's defence capacity compared to Beijing, which has steadily expanded its military might.

'The latest military exercise has shown that what's happening in Ukraine can happen in Asia,' he told AFP.

Taipei's military said it would not confirm missile flight paths, in a bid to protect its intelligence capabilities and not allow China 'to intimidate us'.

China's ruling Communist Party views Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day take it, by force if necessary.

But the scale and intensity of the drills have triggered outrage in the United States and other democracies.

'China has chosen to overreact and use the Speaker's visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait,' John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters.

A view from the cockpit of a Chinese fighter jet shows the aircraft refueling in mid-air as a show of strength to Taiwan and its allies

A view from the cockpit of a Chinese fighter jet shows the aircraft refueling in mid-air as a show of strength to Taiwan and its allies

A Chinese ballistic missile is launched from somewhere in the Ganzhou region towards Taiwan in what the US called a 'major escalation'

A Chinese ballistic missile is launched from somewhere in the Ganzhou region towards Taiwan in what the US called a 'major escalation' 

'The temperature's pretty high', but tensions 'can come down very easily by just having the Chinese stop these very aggressive military drills', he added.

Japan lodged a formal diplomatic complaint against Beijing, with five of China's missiles believed to have landed in its exclusive economic zone.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called China's exercises a 'serious problem that impacts our national security and the safety of our citizens' and called for an 'immediate cancellation of the military drills'.

But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the 'flagrant provocation' by the United States had set an 'egregious precedent.'

The maneuvers are taking place along some of the busiest shipping routes on the planet, used to supply vital semiconductors and electronic equipment produced in East Asian factory hubs to global markets.

Taiwan's Maritime and Port Bureau has warned ships to avoid areas being used for Chinese drills.

'The shutting down of these transport routes - even temporarily - has consequences not only for Taiwan, but also trade flows tied to Japan and South Korea,' Nick Marro, the Economist Intelligence Unit's lead analyst for global trade, wrote in a note.

Taiwan said the drills would disrupt 18 international routes passing through its flight information region, while several international airlines told AFP they would divert flights.

But markets in Taipei appeared to shrug off the tensions, with the Taiwan Taiex Shipping and Transportation Index, which tracks major shipping and airline stocks, up 2.3 percent early Friday.

And analysts broadly agree that despite all its aggressive posturing, Beijing does not want an active military conflict against the United States and its allies over Taiwan - just yet.

'The last thing Xi wants is an accidental war ignited,' Titus Chen, an associate professor of political science at the National Sun Yat-Sen University in Taiwan, told AFP.

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