Cross-Strait relations

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun via video teleconference Tuesday, in the first substantive talks between the superpowers' defense chiefs in nearly 18 months.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday met U.S. delegates who arrived on the island on the heels of an election won by a pro-sovereignty candidate who Beijing said would bring war to the self-ruled island.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Beijing to maintain cross-strait stability on Friday during a meeting with a senior Chinese official, hours before voters in Taiwan headed to polls to choose a new president.

Four Chinese balloons were detected moving across the median line separating Taiwan from China, with three flying directly above the island, Taiwan's defence ministry said Wednesday.

China on Sunday vowed "resolute and forceful measures" over a weekend trip by Taiwan Vice President William Lai to the United States it said it was closely monitoring.

China's foreign minister stepped up threats Friday against the self-governing island of Taiwan, saying any who go against Beijing's demand to exert control over the island are "playing with fire."

A US warship sailed through the waters separating Taiwan and mainland China, the US Navy said, days after Beijing staged war games around the self-ruled island.

Led by the United States, multiple Western navies regularly conduct "freedom of navigation operations" to assert the international status of regional waterways such as the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is visiting China, called for a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue, Reuters reported.

"Conflicts must be resolved peacefully," Baerbock said at a news conference in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Qing Gan.

She called on China to exert its influence on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.

They are "on patrol" days after Beijing announced that the military exercises had officially ended.
Taiwan's ministry said it had detected 26 aircraft and seven vessels in the last 24 hours. Of these, 14 aircraft crossed half of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Tsai said that during the overseas trip, during which she met with McCarthy, the president of the House of Representatives in the USA, and after which she visited Guatemala and Belize, Taiwan's determination to defend freedom and democracy was shown to the world.