• Each missile hit its target precisely and all air and sea area control is now relaxed. Images show military chopper flying over Pingtan island, one of Taiwan’s closest points to China.
• Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has described China’s live-fire drills as a “irrational act” that sought to “alter the status quo”.
• The exercises have disrupted ship and aircraft schedules, with some foreign flights being cancelled and ships advised to take detours around the island.

China made good on its vow that Taipei will pay a price for hosting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday by launching many missiles toward waters close to northeastern and southwestern Taiwan, according to the island’s Defense Ministry.

Multiple missiles had been launched into the water off the eastern coast of Taiwan, according to a statement from the Chinese military’s Eastern Theater Command. It claimed that every missile hit its target precisely.

China’s statement read, “The entire live-fire training mission has been effectively concluded and the pertinent air and sea area control is now relaxed.” As part of upcoming military drills around the island, the Eastern Theater Command earlier claimed to have conducted long-range, live-fire training in the Taiwan Strait.

Despite being in the Taiwan Strait and closer to the mainland than Taiwan’s main island, Taiwan stated that Chinese long-range missiles had crashed close to the islands of Matsu, Wuqiu, and Dongyin. It later claimed that a total of 11 Dongfeng (DF) missiles were launched on Thursday between 1:56 and 4 p.m. local time (1:56 and 4 a.m. ET) into the waters to the north, south, and east of the island.

Chinese official media claimed that drills simulating an air and sea “blockade” surrounding Taiwan had begun on Wednesday, but provided few supporting information. Images taken later on Thursday showed military chopper aircraft flying over Pingtan island, which is one of Taiwan’s closest points to the mainland of China.

The military’s display of force came after Pelosi left the island on Wednesday evening in order to travel to South Korea, one of the last legs of her Asian tour that will culminate this weekend in Japan.

The Taiwan Defense Ministry reported that China flew more than 20 fighter jets across the median line in the Taiwan Strait, which Beijing claims it does not recognise but generally regards as the boundary between the mainland and Taiwan, just hours after she left Taipei on Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry described the live-fire drills as a “irrational act” that sought to “alter the status quo” on Thursday, adding that its military was still in a “normal” but cautious posture.

The ministry issued a statement that read, “We are actively monitoring enemy operations near the sea of Taiwan and that of outlying islands, and we will act properly.”

In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, Taiwan also charged China with “following North Korea’s example of arbitrary test-firing of missiles in waters close to other nations.”

The exercises have disrupted ship and aircraft schedules, with some foreign flights being cancelled and ships being advised to take detours to reach various ports around the island.

Beyond Taiwan’s territorial waters, tensions have also increased. Nobuo Kishi, the defence minister of Japan, stated on Thursday that five missiles were thought to have landed inside the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“This is a significant issue that affects both the security and safety of the people of Japan. We condemn it vehemently “Kishi said in front of the media at a press conference.

According to Kishi, this was the first time Chinese ballistic missiles had touched down within of Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, and Beijing had been informed of the incident.

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