As Pelosi lands in Taiwan, China plans 'targeted' military operations to counter her trip
Beijing, Aug 2: China on Tuesday warned that US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan disregarding its stern warnings will have a "severe impact" on bilateral ties and it "gravely undermines" regional peace and stability, as the official media here said that the military will launch a series of "targeted" operations to counter her trip.
Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday night, according to the television footage shown by US networks. She is the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
After Pelosi arrived in Taiwan, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong statement, saying that her visit is a "serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques".
China claims Taiwan as part of the mainland and vows to integrate what it calls the rebel province even by force.
"It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-US relations, and seriously infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for 'Taiwan independence'. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious demarche and strong protest to the United States," the statement said.
There is but one-China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, it said.
This has been clearly recognised by United Nations General Assembly Resolution and 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle, it said.
"The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations," it said.
In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations -- "The United States of America recognises the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China," it said.
Dismissing US Secretary Antony Blinken's assertion that US Congress functioned independently from the government, the statement said the US "Congress, as a part of the US Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one-China policy of the US Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China's Taiwan region".
"China is all along opposed to the visit to Taiwan by US congressional members, and the US executive branch has the responsibility to stop such visit," it said.
"Since Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the US Congress, her visit to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason, is a major political provocation to upgrade US official exchanges with Taiwan. China absolutely does not accept this, and the Chinese people absolutely reject this," it said.
Citing the Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Sr. Col. Wu Qian, state-run Global Times reported that the Chinese military "will launch a series of targeted military operations to counter Pelosi's visit to Taiwan island, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will launch a series of joint military operations around Taiwan Island starting Tuesday night.
The PLA Eastern Theatre Command will stage joint training exercises in the maritime areas off the northern, southwestern and south-eastern coasts of the island and their air space, conduct long-range live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait and conventional missile tests in the waters off the eastern coast of the island, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The military operations are a stern deterrent against the recent major escalation of the negative acts by the United States on the Taiwan question and a serious warning against separatist activities seeking "Taiwan independence , it said.
After arriving in Taipei, Pelosi said that the US delegation's visit "honours America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant democracy."
"Our visit is one of several Congressional delegations to Taiwan - and it in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy, she said.
"By travelling to Taiwan, we honour our commitment to democracy: reaffirming that the freedoms of Taiwan and all democracies must be respected."
She said that her "visit reiterates that America stands with Taiwan: a robust, vibrant democracy and our important partner in the Indo-Pacific."
Beijing routinely protests any foreign dignitaries' visits to Taiwan, which claims its own and firmly insists all countries follow the One China policy acknowledging that the breakaway province is part of its mainland.
Arriving by the US Air Force plane, Pelosi and her delegation was received at the tarmac of the Taipei airport by Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.
She flew from Malaysia as militaries of China, Taiwan and the US went on full alert amid high voltage rhetoric from Beijing objecting to her visit, saying that it is violation of its sovereignty as Taiwan belongs to it.
Pelosi was expected to meet Taiwanese President Tsi-Ing-wen, whom China accuses as separatist, on Wednesday and spend the day touring the island including some of the industrial units.
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3rd T20I: A three-match 'audition' starts for Gill to find his game back
Dharamsala (PTI): The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup, starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures in the lap of the ice-clad Dhauladhar range, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room, with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner.
ALSO READ: South Africa level series after de Kock special; Gill, SKY misfire again
Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla — has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
Among all T20 sides, South Africa, in terms of personnel, appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford, two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year but same can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener.
Gill's entry into the T20 set-up was a classic case of trying to fix something that ain't broken and things haven't looked good so far.
In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in throwing Samson under the bus for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, find Yashasvi Jaiswal, with a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during New Zealand series.
Lack of clarity
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While head coach Gambhir is too proud a person to admit but sending Axar Patel as a one drop batter during the second T20I was a "tactical brain fade" from the team's think-tank.
The kind misstep that was taken with Axar's promotion is unlikely to be repeated in the third game where skipper is expected to go back to No.3 where he has got a lot of success in his first few years at the international level.
Similarly, Shivam Dube being sent at number eight due to the shuffling of batting order was another poor call which would need course correction in the next game.
Is there a place for Kuldeep Yadav?
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Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick.
At Dharamsala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batters can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing eleven as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
The five-match series is currently tied 1-1.
Teams:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, NT Tilak Verma, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Lutho Sipamla, Ottniel Baartman, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde.
Match Starts at 7 pm.
