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In the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) visit to Taiwan, tensions and uncertainty about China’s response remain high. Tanks and other vehicles have been deployed throughout Fujian Province in eastern China and live ammunition drills are to begin imminently. This response is almost identical to the most recent visit of a US House Speaker to Taiwan in 1997, but China is much more powerful today than they were 25 years ago.

China also launched its most recent sortie of 20 jets into Taiwan’s ADIZ and cordoned off several spaces around Taiwan as “danger zones” for commercial aircraft to avoid. Some have suggested that the fallout from Pelosi’s stopover on the island is far from its conclusion, with China viewing it as a major violation of their . All of this follows the US’s approval of its latest arms sale to Taiwan less than a month ago, which has been heavily scrutinized by Chinese officials.

Related ETF: SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR)

Despite strong posturing and implicit threats by China ahead of Representative Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) visit to Taiwan, the congresswoman’s stopover went off without a hitch yesterday.

Given Pelosi’s position as Speaker of the House, therefore, making her second in line for Presidential succession, she is the highest-ranking elected official from the US to visit the island since 1997 when then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made Taiwan apart of his itinerary following a trip to Beijing.

In the eyes of the Communist Party of China, Taiwan is part of the Chinese state and foreign politicians visiting the island is painted as a violation of the former’s sovereignty. While China has long-opposed American politicians visiting Taiwan and lending legitimacy to the island’s government, they are a stronger economic and military force today, much more closely rivaling the US now than they did 25 years ago.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian declared the People’s Republic would “not sit idly by” if Pelosi was to visit Taiwan, threatening an “egregious political impact”. A statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry added that the trip “severely infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and “gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

“These moves, like playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire will perish by it,” the statement said.

Large convoys of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) tanks and armored vehicles were filmed arriving at Fujian Province beaches ahead of Pelosi’s entrance into Taiwan. A number of tanks appeared to be parked in Xiamen, the closest point on the Chinese mainland to Taiwan. China also closed off its East coast airspace around the Xiamen area close to Taiwan and placed nearby Quanzhou’s Jinjiang airport under PLA air force control.

An official notice, highlighted by Bloomberg, designated six areas of airspace around Taiwan as “danger zones” for commercial aircraft as China advised airlines to avoid these areas until August 7. Additionally, Business Insider reports twenty-one Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in a show of force by the PLA.

That was only the latest episode of China’s increasingly large incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ. China has continuously maintained that campaign with more than 250 Chinese military aircraft violating Taiwan’s ADIZ between January and March of this year, according to Taiwan’s defense ministry. In fact, the PLA’s fleet of…

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