China military response ‘irresponsible’ after Nancy Pelosi visit to Taiwan: US naval commander

‘That’s not the way that countries that want to be leaders within the world should behave’, says US 7th Fleet Vice-Admiral Karl Thomas

Crucial lessons for Xi, China and Taiwan from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and complicated aftermath Putin faces, he adds

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The USS Higgins conducting a routine Taiwan Strait transit in September. The guided-missile destroyer is forward-deployed to the US 7th Fleet area of operations. Photo: US Navy

Published: 7:01am, 15 Oct 2022Updated: 10:34pm, 15 Oct 2022

China’s “irresponsible” military response after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August displayed behaviour not suited to a nation with global aspirations, a top American military leader in the Indo-Pacific region said on Friday.

In the days and weeks after the visit by the highest-ranking US official to travel to Taiwan in a quarter century, the People’s Republic of China sent warships and military aircraft to all sides of the self-governing island. It fired missiles into nearby waters, repeatedly violated Taiwan’s air defence zone and suspended or cancelled eight official military dialogues and channels with Washington.

“That’s not the way that countries that want to be leaders within the world should behave,” said Vice-Admiral Karl Thomas, Commander of the US 7th Fleet, based in Japan.

China has claimed it seeks a peaceful resolution to the cross-strait differences, he added. “But when you see them fire ballistic missiles over Taiwan and have them land in the maritime commons and into shipping lines, and some of them actually landed in the Japanese economic exclusion zone, that’s why I attach that word irresponsible.”

Thomas, who started his career landing naval aircraft on pitching decks before going on to command two aircraft carriers, said he hoped Beijing – and Taiwan – drew meaningful lessons from Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.