China fired missiles over Taiwan for the first time on Friday, escalating tension in the region as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Japan, whose leaders lodged a protest with Beijing after five projectiles landed near Japanese islands. Missiles flying over Taiwan marked a significant escalation in tension.
Additionally, following Pelosi's recent Taiwan visit, China announced on Friday that it was halting cooperation with the United States in a number of areas, including dialogue between senior-level military commanders and climate change.
The Foreign Ministry said dialogue between the US and Chinese regional commanders and defence department heads would be cancelled along with talks on military maritime safety. Cooperation on returning illegal immigrants, criminal investigations, transnational crime, illegal drugs and climate change will be suspended, the ministry said.
The measures announced on Friday are the latest in a promised series of steps intended to punish Washington for allowing the visit to the island China claims as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary.
Meanwhile, China was also holding threateningmilitary exercises insix zones off Taiwan's coasts that it says will run through Sunday. Missiles have also been fired over Taiwan, defence officials told state media. The US House Speaker is the highest-ranking US politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
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