China will increase military exercises in Taiwan after the island hosts a foreign head of state

China will step up military exercises in Taiwan late this week after the island hosted a foreign head of state on Monday

China has been holding live-fire drills around Taiwan for nearly a week since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Taiwan hosted St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on Monday, who insisted on flying to the island despite China’s show of force.

“Prime Minister Gonsalves has expressed in recent days that Chinese military exercises would not prevent him from visiting friends in Taiwan. These statements have touched us deeply,” Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said at a welcoming ceremony.

Gonsalves ripped China as a “bully” in his own remarks. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is one of just over a dozen countries that have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

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In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, an air force pilot from the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) looks on as it conducts joint training exercises combat around the island of Taiwan on Sunday, August 7, 2022. China on Monday said it was expanding threatening military exercises around Taiwan that have disrupted sea and air traffic and raised substantial concerns about the potential for conflict in a region crucial to world trade. (Wang Xinchao/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Taiwan’s presidential office, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, left, speaks with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen during a visit to the presidential office from Taipei, Taiwan on Monday, August 8. 2022. (Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)

“As in our own hemisphere, the Western Hemisphere, we don’t like it and we don’t support it when any powerful neighbor tries to bully or bully us,” Gonsalves said. “Wherever there are differences, we must resolve them peacefully in a civilized manner.”

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China’s stepped-up drills come days after the country announced it would hold “regular” military drills on the Taiwanese side of the Taiwan Strait.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s regime was furious with Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, arguing that it broke with the one-China policy of the United States.

The policy states that the US recognizes, but does not endorse, China’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan. It also states that the US will not maintain formal diplomatic relations with the island’s government.

Although President Joe Biden’s administration had advised Pelosi not to make the trip, the US has not apologized for her visit.

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The United States has urged China not to overreact, however. South Korean airlines have canceled flights to Taiwan this weekend as a precaution given China’s extensive military exercises.