Taiwan's foreign minister claimed on Tuesday that Beijing is encircling the island with air and sea drills to get ready for an invasion and alter the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific.
In a heated reaction to a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-ruled island in decades, China this week conducted its largest-ever war games near Taiwan.
Joseph Wu stated at a news conference in Taipei that "China has exploited the drills and its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan."
To lower public morale in Taiwan, "it is carrying out massive military drills and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, a disinformation campaign, and economic coercion."
Even though Beijing had said the drills would conclude a day earlier, they continued Monday, according to Taipei's top diplomat, who noted that they have hampered one of the busiest maritime and air routes in the world.
After the Taiwanese military conducted its own live-fire exercise to represent defending against an attack on the island, Wu held a press conference.
He described Beijing's war games as an attempt to seize control of the waters surrounding Taiwan and the larger Asia-Pacific area and as a "grave infringement of Taiwan's rights."
He claimed that China's true goal was to change the current situation in the Taiwan Strait and the surrounding area.
Wu continued by praising the West's friends for opposing China.
It also clearly conveys to the world that democracy will not bow to the intimidation of authoritarianism, he said.
