US President Joe Biden expressed concern about China’s “provocative actions” during a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday, the White House said.
Biden and Xi mainly discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the nearly two-hour call.
Biden warned Xi of “implications and consequences” should China support Russia’s invasion, as Beijing had so far been reluctant to criticize the Kremlin and is suspected of providing assistance to Russia, the White House said.
Photo: REUTERS
Biden voice concern over Beijing’s “coercive and provocative actions” across the Taiwan Strait, a senior US administration official said during a news call after the bilateral talks.
Biden told Xi that the US continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the cross-strait “status quo,” a transcription issued by the White House showed.
Biden reiterated that the US is committed to its “one China” policy, and stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the official added.
Xi warned of a profound impact on China-US relations if Washington does not properly handle the “Taiwan question,” a separate transcription issued by the Chinese government showed.
Xi also accused “some people” in the US of “sending wrong signals to Taiwan’s independence forces,” the Chinese transcription showed.
Asked if Biden responded to Xi’s accusation, the senior official said: “Biden’s response was about just reaffirming our continued, consistent policy — very long-standing policy — while underscoring concerns about Beijing’s coercive and provocative actions across the Strait.”
“The Biden administration has consistently demonstrated rock-solid support for Taiwan and will continue to do so,” the official added.
In Taipei, the Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US for emphasizing security in the Strait and its support for Taiwan.
The nation would continue to work closely with the US and other like-minded countries, the office said in a statement.
Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region is the responsibility of all regional stakeholders, office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said, urging China to shoulder its responsibility.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Biden’s remarks highlighted the common ground between Taiwan and the US with regard to cross-strait peace and stability.
“We urge China to stop the hostile actions and provocations in the Taiwan Strait, as well as to end the ‘united front’ tactics against Taiwan,” the DPP said in a news statement.
“A complete change is needed in China’s attitude toward dealing with cross-strait relations. China should take up the goodwill shown by Taiwan to engage in dialogue on an equal footing to enable healthy cross-strait development,” it added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Department of International Affairs head Alexander Huang (黃介正) wrote on Facebook: “The US has stated its position on cross-strait relations, which basically meant to ‘stay on the road, do not run red lights and do not bump into the guardrails.’”
While Taiwanese should have confidence that there is no change in Washington’s policy toward the nation, “we also need to have a clear awareness,” he said. “Ditch illusion and face reality.”
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and Shih Hsiao-kuang
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
RSS