US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Australian and Japanese Foreign Ministers Penny Wong and Hayashi Yoshimasa condemned China’s ballistic missile launch and called for an end to China’s military exercises amid the recent visit by the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. The joint statement was posted on the US State Department website on Friday, August 5.

According to the document, Washington, Canberra and Tokyo “expressed concern about China’s recent actions, which seriously undermine international peace and stability, including the holding of large-scale military exercises.” After China launched ballistic missiles, five of them landed in Japan’s special economic zones, leading to heightened tension and destabilization in the Indo-Pacific region, the statement said.

In addition, the foreign ministers of the three countries “reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” and declared “support for the pursuit of diplomacy in the region to avoid the risk of miscalculations”.

Tensions between the US and China over Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan

Nancy Pelosi flew in for a one-day visit to Taiwan on August 2. She became the first speaker of the US House of Representatives in 25 years to visit the island, whose independence Beijing does not recognize and which it considers one of China’s provinces.

The White House and Pelosi herself stressed that the visit to Taiwan does not mean a change in US policy towards Taiwan, whose independence Washington does not recognize. The Beijing official, however, harshly criticized this visit and, after Pelosi’s departure, the Chinese army began the previously announced air and sea military exercises in the island area. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry called the Chinese maneuvers extremely provocative and announced the deployment of land-based missile systems.

Beijing, after the American’s visit, partially suspended trade with Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry said the PRC is suspending cooperation with the United States in a number of areas, including climate change, drug control, transnational crime, legal assistance in criminal cases and repatriation of illegal immigrants. China has imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her family members, saying she “interfered in China’s internal affairs” and violated the country’s “territorial integrity”.