Several US congressmen on Friday said that Beijing should be reprimanded for threatening Taipei with military power following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) reiteration this week of his goal of unification and willingness to use force to annex Taiwan.
“China threatening Taiwan with military force is reprehensible, counterproductive and just bad diplomacy,” US Senator John Kennedy tweeted.
China’s provocative approach toward Taiwan risks the stability of the region and displays its disrespect of democracies, Kennedy said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart on Twitter called China’s attempts to threaten a democratic US ally “shameful,” saying that communist dictatorships often rely on coercion, threats and violence to maintain power.
“The Chinese people in the PRC [People’s Republic of China] have suffered under crushing oppression for far too long, and the threats against the free people of #Taiwan must end,” said Diaz-Balart, who serves as cochair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
US Representative Steve King said on Facebook that China’s saber-rattling and threats against Taiwan, a democratic ally and an important trading partner, should be condemned by freedom-loving people around the globe.
Taiwan and China are sovereign nations with a right to self-determination, US Representative Paul Gosar said, adding that force should not be an option.
The congressmen were commenting on Xi’s speech in Beijing on Wednesday marking the 40th anniversary of a policy statement that paved the way for cross-strait interactions.
The Chinese leader said that while peaceful unification is his government’s goal, it “makes no promise to abandon the use of force” against the intervention of foreign forces and pro-independence “separatists.”
Xi also said he planned to explore a Taiwan version of the “one country, two systems” model, which President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in a speech responding to Xi’s remarks later that day said would not be accepted by Taiwanese.
Calling for US support for Taiwan, US Representative Don Bacon on Wednesday tweeted that Taiwan has embraced democracy and human rights for all its citizens.
“America needs to stand by our longstanding commitment to Taiwan and ensure they’re not isolated while China still embraces Communism, and denies freedom of religion, speech, and the press,” Bacon said.
US Representative Vicente Gonzalez also urged the US to stand with Taiwan, which he called a key democratic ally and friend.
Gonzalez and US Representative Andy Biggs expressed the hope that both sides of the Taiwan Strait could return to having peaceful and constructive dialogue and relations.
US Representative Glenn Grothman said China should respect the commitment of the 23 million Taiwanese to freedom and democracy, while US Representative Ted Yoho pledged the US Congress’ “unwavering support” for Taiwan.
“Xi Jinping’s threatening rhetoric on #Taiwan is an escalation of Communist Party campaign to marginalize Taiwan’s democracy,” Yoho said, adding that Taiwan’s legitimacy is a self-evident fact.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the nine US senators and representatives for their staunch, bipartisan support of the nation.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS