A call between US President Joe Biden and Chinese Xi Jinping (習近平) scheduled to take place this week is likely to cover tensions over Taiwan, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.
“Everything from the tensions over Taiwan, to the war in Ukraine, as well as how we better manage competition between our two nations, certainly in the economic sphere,” Kirby told a news briefing.
Kirby’s comments come after Beijing expressed strong opposition to a reported trip to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Photo: Reuters
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) on Tuesday last week called on Washington to “stop creating tensions over the Taiwan Strait.”
However, Kirby called the US-China relationship “one of the most consequential bilateral relationships in the world,” adding that there are possibilities for both sides to cooperate on issues such as global warming.
Kirby said the White House has seen some bellicosity from Beijing, but called the rhetoric “unnecessary,” adding that there has not been a formal announcement regarding Pelosi’s trip.
Kirby also declined to speculate if the reported trip would be on the agenda when Biden talks with Xi, only saying that Biden’s national security team had briefed Pelosi about security concerns and related arrangements.
The planned trip was first reported on Monday last week by the Financial Times, which cited six people familiar with the matter as saying that the 82-year-old Democratic lawmaker was planning to lead a delegation to Taiwan next month.
However, Biden on Wednesday last week said the US military thought that “it’s not a good idea right now ... but I don’t know what the status of it [the trip] is.”
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
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
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
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
RSS