What's brewing in Taiwan Strait as China and the US flex muscles?
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New Delhi: US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan irked China so much so that Chinese authorities started punishing Taiwan.
China's customs department stopped imports of citrus fruits and fish from Taiwan and its commerce ministry banned exporting natural sand to Taiwan.
Beyond exerting economic pressure on the island nation, China is planning military exercise near its coast.
It all began after Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan, with China summoning the US ambassador in Beijing to hand out its protest.
China's foreign ministry, reportedly, said Pelosi's visit damages peace and stability in the island.
The visit, as well as harming the political foundation of US-Chinese relations, infringes upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, it added.
Before leaving Taiwan, Pelosi pledged solidarity with Taiwan saying that China's anger wouldn't stop leaders from travelling to the self-governed island.
Now that the US has deployed its warships east of Taiwan, tension is mounting in the neigbourhood of India.
Of course Taiwan is caught between the devil and the deep sea as the two military giants flex their muscles over it.
Taiwan's defence ministry described China's planned military drill as "amounting to a sea and air blockade of Taiwan".
Reuters reported that China's drill will include 16 Chinese Su-30 fighters and 11 other jets.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, the live-fire drills and other exercises will take place around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday.
Taiwan's defence ministry said that it shooed away 27 Chinese aircraft in its defencee zone on Wednesday.
As tension increases in Taiwan Strait, the Island nation dispatched deployed missile systems to "monitor" Chinese moves in its air defence identification zone (ADIZ).
The defence ministry also said with its military drills China was trying to threaten the nation's key ports and cities on the coast.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and is all for using force to bring the island under its control.
The US and its allies warned China against using Pelosi's visit to the island nation a pretext to military action against Taiwan.
With inputs from agencies