Singapore: China’s recent decision to fire missiles over Taiwan is a “gorilla in the room” that has to be contested, a top US military commander said Tuesday. Beijing has carried out huge air and sea drills this month around Taiwan in a furious reaction to visits by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a congressional delegation.
Those exercises included firing multiple ballistic missiles into waters off Taiwan some of the world’s busiest shipping routes and it was the first time China has taken such a step since the mid-1990s. “It’s very important that we contest this type of thing. I know that the gorilla in the room is launching missiles over Taiwan,” Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Karl Thomas told reporters in Singapore.
“If we just allow that to happen, and we don’t contest that, that’ll be the next norm,” he added. “It’s irresponsible to launch missiles over Taiwan into international waters, where the shipping lanes, where free shipping operates.”
