US President Joe Biden’s administration on Saturday urged China to stop placing military pressure on Taiwan, while calling on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to engage in peaceful dialogue.
The statement by the US Department of State was issued after 13 Chinese military aircraft flew into Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Saturday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The air force scrambled fighter jets to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets until the planes left the ADIZ.
Photo courtesy of Ministry of National Defense
The US “notes with concern” the pattern of ongoing attempts by the People’s Republic of China to intimidate its neighbors, including Taiwan, a statement issued by US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said.
“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives,” it said.
“We will stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the Indo-Pacific region — and that includes deepening our ties with democratic Taiwan,” the statement added.
It reiterated Washington’s stance of supporting “a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people on Taiwan.”
The statement also said that the US would continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining “sufficient self-defense capability,” as outlined in the Three Joint Communiques, the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances.”
“Our commitment to Taiwan is rock-solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and within the region,” it concluded.
The statement was released less than a week after Biden was sworn into office.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it sincerely welcomes and thanks the Biden administration for showing support for Taiwan, and for attaching importance to Taiwan’s national defense and security, as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, soon after taking office.
The ministry would work closely with the administration, and reinforce the close partnership between Taiwan and the US by building on the foundation of their friendship, it said.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in a statement also welcomed the US’ support, saying that Democrats have continued to uphold the cross-strait framework of the past 40-plus years, and encouraged cross-strait dialogue.
Regarding the frequent presence of Chinese military aircraft in Taiwan’s airspace, the KMT said that with the Lunar New Year holiday approaching, it urges the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to exercise restraint, and not to cause trepidation among Taiwanese.
Chinese authorities should recognize that both sides are responsible for the “knot” in cross-strait relations, which should be resolved peacefully through political means, the party said.
It added that it hopes the governments on both sides prioritize the interests of the people.
Additional reporting by Sherry Hsiao and Lu Yi-hsuan
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
PRECISION STRIKES: The most significant reason to deploy HIMARS to outlying islands is to establish a ‘dead zone’ that the PLA would not dare enter, a source said A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) would be deployed to Penghu County and Dongyin Island (東引) in Lienchiang County (Matsu) to force the Chinese military to retreat at least 100km from the coastline, a military source said yesterday. Taiwan has been procuring HIMARS and Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US in batches. Once all batches have been delivered, Taiwan would possess 111 HIMARS units and 504 ATACMS, which have a range of 300km. Considering that “offense is the best defense,” the military plans to forward-deploy the systems to outlying islands such as Penghu and Dongyin so that
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
‘CLEAR MESSAGE’: The bill would set up an interagency ‘tiger team’ to review sanctions tools and other economic options to help deter any Chinese aggression toward Taiwan US Representative Young Kim has introduced a bill to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, calling for an interagency “tiger team” to preplan coordinated sanctions and economic measures in response to possible Chinese military or political action against Taiwan. “[Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平] has directed the People’s Liberation Army to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. China has a plan. America should have one too,” Kim said in a news release on Thursday last week. She introduced the “Deter PRC [People’s Republic of China] aggression against Taiwan act” to “ensure the US has a coordinated sanctions strategy ready should
RSS