Taiwan Warns of Severe Military Challenge as China Edges Closer

INA-  sources 

Taiwan warned it faces “severe military challenges” from surging Chinese military activity edging closer to the island, as Beijing tries to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
Taipei expects the People’s Liberation Army to continue sending warships and jets across the median line that divides the waterway, the island’s Ministry of National Defense said in an annual report to lawmakers seen by Bloomberg News. 
The document said Beijing had used military drills following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit earlier this month as an excuse to “verify its execution ability” of not only simulating a blockade around the island, but also diplomatic and economic tools of retaliation.
Chinese warplanes have breached the median line on a near-daily basis since the California democrat’s trip, shrinking the tacit buffer zone that’s kept the peace for decades. Breaching the line was previously a rare occurrence. Taiwan has also reported spotting an average of seven Chinese warships in the “surrounding region” every day since the US politician departed. 
Beijing responded to Pelosi becoming the highest ranking US official in a quarter century to visit Taipei with unprecedented military drills around Taiwan that included firing ballistic missiles over its main island for the first time. China claims Taiwan as its territory and protests official exchanges with Taipei.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused China of seeking to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait in the wake of those actions. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a news briefing this month it was “the US and Taiwan separatist forces, not China, that seeks to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.”

Source: Bloomberg