East Asia

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."

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).

China's President Xi Jinping has called on the country's armed forces to "strengthen military training oriented towards real combat operations", state-run Chinese television reported, as quoted by AFP.

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.

During his visit to the Netherlands yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his call for greater European sovereignty. In the eagerly awaited speech, Macron said that both the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made it clear that Europe needs to reduce its dependencies in order to preserve its identity, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense announced today that it detected 9 warships and 26 aircraft sent by China around the island, AFP reported, quoted by BTA.

The agency noted that this came a day after the Chinese armed forces ended major exercises around Taiwan, a self-governing democratic island that Communist China claims as its territory.

China's armed forces have simulated precision strikes against Taiwan on the second day of Chinese military exercises around the island. Taiwan's Ministry of Defense reported numerous flights by the Chinese air force, as well as monitoring China's missile forces, Reuters reported.

China's military said it had launched a three-day exercise with 42 warplanes and 8 ships around Taiwan, which it described as a "serious warning" to Taiwanese separatists who are "in cahoots with outside forces".

China sent warships and aircraft near Taiwan for a second day on Friday, Taipei said, after President Tsai Ing-wen angered Beijing by meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.