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The Taiwanese official who was found dead in his hotel room on Saturday morning died of a heart attack, according to official media reports cited by Reuters.
Authorities said there was no sign that anyone had entered his room.
Ou Yang Li-hsing was the deputy head of the military-owned Chung-Shan National Institute of Science and Technology, where he oversaw several missile production projects. He was 57 years old.
A senior official leading Taiwan’s missile production program has died of a heart attack, according to official media. Authorities said there was no sign of an outside break-in in the hotel room of 57-year-old Ou Yang.
— Yimou Lee (@YimouLee) August 6, 2022
Summary
Here’s a rundown of the latest developments as 2pm rolls around in Taipei.
- Taiwan’s defense ministry accused Chinese planes and ships of conducting mock attack drills on its main island on Saturday. Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were spotted in the Taiwan Strait, some of which crossed the median line, an unofficial buffer that separates the two sides, according to the ministry. Taiwan’s military used patrol boats and put land-based missiles on standby in response.
- A Taiwanese official who was in charge of several missile production projects was found dead in a hotel room in southern Taiwan on Saturday morning, according to the official Central News Agency. Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned Chung-Shan National Institute of Science and Technology, was 57 years old. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.
- The foreign ministers of the United States, Australia and Japan have urged China to immediately cease military exercises around Taiwan. In a joint statement after meeting in Phnom Penh on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Australia and Japan, Penny Wong and Hayashi Yoshimasa, “have expressed concern about the recent actions of the People’s Republic of China that seriously affect international peace and stability, including the use of large-scale military exercises.” They also “condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government says landed in its exclusive economic zones, heightening tensions and destabilizing the region.”
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Chinese military exercises near Taiwan were a threat to regional security. Beijing announced four days of drills expected to end on Sunday. The drills are a “serious problem that affects our national security and the safety of our citizens,” Kishida told reporters, speaking after a meeting with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday in Tokyo.
- North Korea has denounced Nancy Pelosi as “the worst destroyer of international peace and stability”, after the speaker of the US House expressed her commitment during a visit to South Korea to achieve the denuclearization of the North. He also condemned his trip to Taiwan.
- US special envoy on climate change John Kerry said China’s decision to suspend bilateral climate change talks with the US does not punish Washington, it “punishes the world”. “No country should hold back progress on existential transnational issues because of bilateral differences,” said the former US secretary of state, who is now the Biden administration’s top climate diplomat. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also told reporters that China’s decision to halt cooperation in several critical areas was “fundamentally irresponsible”.
Updated at 07.05 BST
In response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Beijing on Friday canceled efforts to keep communication channels open between Chinese and US military commanders.
It is feared that this will increase the risk of an accidental escalation of tensions. Reuters has published some analysis on this:
Christopher Twomey, a security scholar at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, told Reuters the breakdown of communication links was worrying, reaching what he believed was the start of a new Taiwan crisis. .
“This is precisely the time when you would want to have more opportunities to talk to the other side… The loss of these channels greatly reduces the ability of both sides to deconflict military forces as various exercises and operations continue “.
As Chinese warships, fighter jets and drones maneuver around Taiwan, at least four powerful US ships, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam are are in eastern Taiwan, Reuters has confirmed.
Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based security analyst at the U.S. German Marshall Fund, said more broadly the prospects were “extremely low for holding talks on de-risking or stability measures.” In time, he said he hoped the specific talks scrapped this week would resume, but “right now, China needs to show toughness and resolve.”
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chinese officials had not returned calls from senior Pentagon officials this week, but China was seen to be showing displeasure over Pelosi’s trip rather than the breakdown of the channel between senior defense officials, including US Defense. Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Austin pushed for better communication between the rival forces when he met Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue security meeting in Singapore in June.
Both Asian and Western diplomats said U.S. military chiefs had been pushing for more frequent theater-level command talks for some time, given China’s growing deployments in Asia, where the U.S. Navy has traditionally been the dominant power.
The Pentagon said on Friday that China was overreacting and that the US was still open to building crisis communication mechanisms.
Updated at 06.48 BST
Taiwan’s main official missile producer is found dead in the hotel
The deputy head of Taiwan’s defense ministry’s research and development unit has been found dead in a hotel in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, according to the official Central News Agency.
Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned Chung-Shan National Institute of Science and Technology, was 57 years old. The cause of his death is unknown, CNA reported.
Ou Yang, who was in charge of several missile production projects, had been on a business trip to Pingtung.
The military-owned body is working to more than double its annual missile production capacity to nearly 500 this year as the island ramps up its combat power amid what it sees as a growing military threat from the China, according to Reuters.
Updated at 06.42 BST
Agence France-Presse reports a few more lines of North Korea’s comments on Pelosi’s trip to Asia.
He visited Seoul and the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone, or Joint Security Area between the two Koreas, earlier this week. Pelosi and her South Korean counterpart, National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, called for “strong and broad deterrence against North Korea” and pledged to support Washington and Seoul’s efforts to achieve denuclearization Pyongyang.
The North denounced Pelosi on Saturday for her discussions with Kim and her visit to the JSA and Taiwan, AFP reports:
In addition to the deterrence talks, Pelosi “made an appearance even at the Panmunjom Joint Security Area, completely betraying the view of the current US administration’s hostile policy towards the DPRK,” said Jo Yong Sam, a North Korean foreign affairs official. ministry, using the official name of the North.
“The United States is just adding fuel to the fire,” Jo added in a statement released by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency. China is the North’s key ally and trading partner, and Pyongyang also criticized Pelosi for her visit to Taiwan.
“Pelosi, the worst destroyer of international peace and stability … incurred the wrath of the Chinese people for his recent trip to Taiwan,” Foreign Ministry Jo said in the statement.
“The United States will have to pay dearly for all the sources of trouble generated by her wherever she goes.”
The North’s rebuke comes about a week after Kim Jong Un said his country was “ready to mobilize” its nuclear deterrent in any future military conflict with the US and Seoul.
North Korea has conducted a record number of weapons tests so far this year, including the launch of a full-range intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since 2017.
Some more details from Taiwan’s defense ministry about what it describes here as a “possible simulated attack.”
Taiwan’s military issued a warning, deployed aerial reconnaissance patrol forces and ships to keep watch as it grounded the missiles on standby.
Multiple PLA vessels were spotted around the Taiwan Strait, some have crossed the median line. Possible simulated attack against HVA. #ROCArmedForces have used alert broadcasts, aircraft at CAP, naval ship patrols and land-based missile systems in response to this situation.
— Ministry of National Defense, ROC 🇹🇼 (@MoNDefense) August 6, 2022
Updated at 06.53 BST
Chinese aircraft and ships conducted mock attack exercises
Taiwan’s defense ministry said some Chinese planes and ships conducted mock attack drills towards the main island of Taiwan on Saturday, Reuters senior Taipei correspondent Yimou Lee tweeted.
Several batches of Chinese aircraft and ships were spotted in the Taiwan Strait on Saturday morning, some of which crossed the median line, reports said.
#TAIWAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE: SOME OF CHINESE AIRCRAFT AND SHIPS CONDUCTED ATTACK SIMULATION EXERCISES TOWARD TAIWAN’S MAIN ISLAND ON SATURDAY
— Yimou Lee (@YimouLee) August 6, 2022
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