US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Reuters Next conference on Friday that Chinese leaders should think carefully about their actions toward Taiwan, warning of “terrible consequences” if China precipitates a crisis across the Taiwan Strait.
In an interview, Blinken addressed multiple foreign policy challenges facing the administration of US President Joe Biden, including faltering efforts to repair the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine and the spiraling conflict in Ethiopia.
Most acute might be China’s increasingly aggressive posture toward Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) has said tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years, adding that China would be capable of mounting a “full-scale” invasion by 2025.
Asked whether China would ever invade Taiwan, Blinken said “that would be a potentially disastrous decision.”
China had been trying to change the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait in the past few years by engaging in provocative military maneuvers and trying to isolate Taiwan from the rest of world, Blinken said.
“I hope that China’s leaders think very carefully about this and about not precipitating a crisis that would have I think terrible consequences for lots of people and one that’s in no one’s interest, starting with China,” Blinken said.
When it came to whether the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion, Blinken said the US remained “resolutely committed” to Taiwan and to ensuring it had the means to defend itself.
“We’ve been very clear and consistently clear over many years that we are committed to making sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself ... whether that’s in defense articles and services, we will continue to make good on that commitment,” Blinken said.
Blinken also praised Taiwan for its efforts to become a strong democracy, as well as cultivate a strong economy and innovation, adding that Taiwan had made significant contributions to the world.
In other news, the US and the EU on Friday in a joint statement reconfirmed their interest in stability and the “status quo” in the Strait.
The statement, issued after US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and European External Action Service Secretary General Stefano Sannino led the first US-EU high-level consultations on the Indo-Pacific in Washington, also said that “both sides noted a shared interest in deepening cooperation with Taiwan consistent with their respective ‘one China’ policies.”
Additional reporting by CNA, with staff writer
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS