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Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi denounced Thursday that five ballistic missiles launched by China’s military during exercises in Taiwan have reportedly fallen within Japan’s exclusive economic zone for the first time. The minister detailed that they fell in waters southwest of Hateruma Island in Okinawa Prefecture.
BREAKING: Tokyo says five missiles fired by China's military landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) August 4, 2022
The Japanese minister said officials filed a diplomatic protest in Beijing after the incident. “This is a grave issue that concerns our country’s national security and people’s safety,” Kishi said at a press conference reported by Japan Times.
The Chinese regime had reported the launch of 11 Chinese missiles in waters north, east and south of Taiwan. “A map of the missiles’ trajectories showed that at least one of the weapons was believed to have flown over Taipei before landing in Japan’s EEZ — a move that would be seen as a major escalation by Beijing,” Japan Times explained.
China vs. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan
The military exercises, according to China, would be in response to the recent visit of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, to Taiwan. The plane carrying the Speaker of the House of Representatives arrived at Taipei’s Songshan Airport on Tuesday. This marked the beginning of a visit against which Beijing had announced retaliation.
“China firmly opposes any form of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian at the department’s daily press conference, according to local media.
In addition, Japan Times highlighted that senior Japanese officials, including the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said that a Chinese attack on democratic Taiwan, a key semiconductor manufacturer that straddles crucial shipping lanes that provide Japan with much of its energy, would also represent an emergency situation for the country.
Williams Perdomo es periodista y escritor, especializado en las fuentes Política y Cultura.