As US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan creates more tension between Taiwan and China, ships are being warned to use caution when sailing in the Taiwan Strait.
In response to the visit, China’s military began a four-day military exercise at six shipping zones that surround the island. According to Taiwan, China had fired 11 missiles in waters surrounding the island as of 4 p.m. local time Thursday.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications advised ships to stay out of the area and if possible, to look for other routes to get to Taiwan ports through the remainder of the week as China will be continuing its live fire exercises until Sunday.
In addition to ships, aircraft was also advised to stay clear of the six zones.
Data from Bloomberg shows that as of noon today, there were about 15 vessels in the military exercise regions. At around the same time the previous day, there were 45 vessels in the area.
Nancy Pelosi’s visit comes at a time when the tensions between China and Taiwan are at their highest levels in years. China had warned prior to the visit that it would take action if the House Speaker went to Taiwan.
