President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday said that Taiwan is concerned about potential accidents in the region as military activity increases and called on Beijing to restrain itself, after China allegedly fired four missiles in the South China Sea.
Tsai made the remarks after delivering a virtual address to the Indo-Pacific Leaders Dialogue at the invitation of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
The Presidential Office yesterday released a transcript of her speech and the question-and-answer session with participants.
Photo: Screen grab from Facebook
China’s latest volley of missile launches into the world’s most hotly contested body of water served as a warning to two key US targets: aircraft carriers and regional bases.
The missiles launched into the South China Sea on Wednesday included the DF-21D and DF-26B, theSouth China Morning Post reported, citing a person close to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
A US Department of Defense official, who asked not to be identified, told Bloomberg News that China fired four medium-range ballistic missiles during a series of military exercises this week.
They landed in the sea between China’s southern Hainan Island and the disputed Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) near Vietnam, the official said, not far from where US carriers conducted drills in recent weeks to back up the decision of US President Donald Trump’s administration to challenge Beijing’s sovereignty claims.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense yesterday reiterated its contention that the exercises were not directed at any one nation, without mentioning the missile launch.
Still, ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian (吳謙) said that “some US politicians” were trying to provoke a conflict between the two nations, but told a briefing in Beijing that China was “not afraid.”
Asked to evaluate the possibility of a cross-strait conflict, Tsai said that “there have been significant concerns over the potential for accidents, given increased military activity in the region.”
“Therefore, we believe it would be important for all parties to maintain open lines of communication to prevent misinterpretations or miscalculations,” she said.
Tsai called on Beijing to exercise restraint and recognize its obligations as a major regional power.
Asked about Taiwan’s expectations for Canberra, Tsai said: “We hope that Australia also continues to recognize the importance of Taiwan’s security in terms of the broader Indo-Pacific region.”
“After Hong Kong, Taiwan stands increasingly on the front lines of freedom and democracy. We certainly hope that like-minded countries will continue to work together to ensure Taiwan’s security,” she said.
Asked how Taiwan prepares itself for this more volatile and dangerous period, Tsai said that three components are absolutely essential.
“The first is our commitment to ensuring that we continue to take a pragmatic and consistent approach to our cross-strait policy,” she said. “Another issue of importance is to strengthen our defense capabilities... The third component is to strengthen our linkages with like-minded countries.”
“Peace, parity, democracy and dialogue” remain the nation’s principles in dealing with cross-strait relations, Tsai said.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday posted several photographs on Facebook to highlight cooperation between Taiwan and the US on security.
Among them, an image shows the first of 32 amphibious assault vehicles purchased from the US that arrived in Taiwan last month.
Another image shows Taiwanese military officers that participated in a virtual forum this month with the US Army’s 25th Combat Aviation Brigade.
Asked for comment on China’s missile launches, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that Japan would not comment on a single event, but that it is opposed to any action that would escalate tensions in the South China Sea.
Japan continues to monitor China’s activities in the area, he said, adding that any territorial disputes in the South China Sea should be resolved through international law.
Vietnam on Wednesday said that Beijing’s military exercises in the South China Sea infringed on its sovereignty.
“China’s repeated military exercises in [the Paracel Islands] violate Vietnam’s sovereignty, complicating negotiations for a Code of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea between China and ASEAN members,” Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said.
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
IN THE MIDDLE: Some of the lawmakers defended the trip as an opportunity for investment, cooperation and to see models that could help modernize Panama A planned trip by some Panamanian lawmakers to Taiwan has unleashed the latest diplomatic spat with China as the Central American country tries to navigate the turbulent waters between the Asian superpower and the US. The Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US ambassador to the country on Wednesday criticized China’s diplomats in Panama for asking the lawmakers to cancel their trip to Taiwan, with the ministry accusing the Chinese embassy of “meddling” in its internal affairs. That followed comments from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino a week earlier saying that the planned Taiwan trip did not have the approval of
RSS