US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said that the US is concerned about China’s aggressive actions against Taiwan and remains committed to ensuring Taiwan “has the ability to defend itself.”
“What we’ve seen, and what is of real concern to us, is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the straits,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press.
He said Washington has a longstanding bipartisan commitment to Taipei under the Taiwan Relations Act to ensure Taiwan “has the ability to defend itself,” and to make sure the US is sustaining peace and security in the western Pacific.
Photo: CNA
“We stand behind those commitments,” he said.
However, Blinken refused to comment on a hypothetical situation when asked if the US would respond militarily to a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan.
Meanwhile, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo yesterday posted a photograph of himself eating Taiwanese dried pineapple on Twitter, his latest public declaration of support for Taiwan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs last month said that it had not yet discussed the possibility of Pompeo visiting Taiwan.
However, when asked yesterday by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) about the possibility of a visit to Taiwan by Pompeo some time this year, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) nodded and said that the ministry “is working on it.”
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from