Washington should not allow Beijing to decide the travel schedules of US officials, former US secretary of defense Mark Esper said yesterday in Taipei, after US President Joe Biden said that US military officials believe it is “not a good idea” for US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit Taiwan.
Biden’s comment came in an exchange with reporters a day after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would take “resolute and strong measures” should Pelosi proceed with reported plans to visit Taiwan in the coming weeks.
The Financial Times on Tuesday reported that Pelosi planned to move forward with a previously postponed visit to Taipei next month. Her office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei have not confirmed the report.
Photo: CNA
“Well, I think that the military thinks it’s not a good idea right now,” Biden said in response to a question about Pelosi’s reported trip. “But I don’t know what the status of it is.”
The president stopped short of suggesting that Pelosi not travel to Taiwan.
Pelosi was originally scheduled to visit in April, but had to postpone after she tested positive for COVID-19. She would be the highest-ranking US lawmaker to visit Taiwan since former US House speaker Newt Gingrich visited in 1997.
Regarding Biden’s comments, Esper, who is visiting Taiwan, told reporters in Taipei that Beijing should not have any say over the travel schedules of US officials.
“I don’t think we should allow China to dictate the travel schedules of American officials,” he told a news conference.
The incident again highlighted the problem with Washington’s long-standing “one China” policy, which has “run its course,” and needs to be “updated and modernized,” he said.
“I think it’s important that American political leaders visit Taiwan, understand the situation here, have a chance to meet with Taiwan’s political leadership, and get a better sense of what’s happening and how things are viewed from here in Taipei, less than 110 miles [177km] from the [Chinese] ‘mainland,’ and get to make their own assessment,” he said.
It is important that Washington develops a fresh perspective concerning its cross-strait policy, he added.
“And the simple fact that we’re worried about what China may or may not do with regard to the speaker of the House visiting is a case in point that we need to relook [at] our policy,” he said.
Esper was US defense head from 2019 to 2020 under then-US president Donald Trump.
Leading a delegation from the Atlantic Council, Esper arrived in Taipei on Monday for a four-day visit to meet with government officials and other politicians to discuss trade, diplomacy, economic issues and security.
Regarding Biden’s comments, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) reiterated the ministry’s stance that it had not received any information about a planned visit by Pelosi, adding that it always welcomes visits from US lawmakers.
China has expressed its strong opposition to Pelosi’s rumored trip, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) urging Washington to “stop creating tensions over the Taiwan Strait.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
RSS