US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called for calm over Taiwan when he met his Chinese counterpart, as cross-strait tensions showed signs of easing a notch.
Blinken met for 90 minutes with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in talks a US official described as “extremely candid” and focused largely on Taiwan.
Blinken “stressed that preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is critical to regional and global security and prosperity,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
He “discussed the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the US-PRC relationship, especially during times of tension,” it added, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
A State Department official described the exchange as “direct and honest.”
The official said that Blinken also renewed US warnings not to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, amid guarded US hopes that Beijing is keeping a distance from Moscow, nominally its ally.
Blinken met Wang for the first time since a sit-down in July in Bali, Indonesia, where both appeared optimistic regarding stability.
One month later, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, infuriating Beijing, which in response staged military exercises seen as a trial run for an invasion.
US President Joe Biden in an interview aired last Sunday said he was ready to intervene militarily if China uses force in Taiwan, once again deviating from decades of US ambiguity.
In the meeting with Blinken, Wang accused the US of “sending very wrong and dangerous signals” that encourage “Taiwan independence,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a readout.
Wang told Blinken that China wished for “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan and warned that “the more rampant ‘Taiwan independence’ activities are, the less likely a peaceful solution would be,” it added.
The US official said Blinken insisted to Wang that “there has been no change” to the US policy of only recognizing Beijing and voiced opposition to “unilateral changes to the status quo” by either side.
In a sign that tensions have eased, Wang also met in New York with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, despite China’s announcement after Pelosi’s visit that it was curbing cooperation with the US on climate issues, a key priority for Biden.
In a speech before his talks with Blinken, Wang called Taiwan “the biggest risk in China-US relations,” and accused the US of stoking “pro-independence forces.”
“Taiwan independence is like a highly disruptive great rhinoceros charging toward us. It must be stopped resolutely,” he said at a meeting of the Asia Society think tank on Thursday.
“Just as the US will not allow Hawaii to be stripped away, China has the right to uphold the unification of the country,” he said.
However, Wang was conciliatory toward Biden. The New York talks are expected to lay the groundwork for a first in-person meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) since they became their two countries’ leaders, likely in Bali in November on the sidelines of a summit of the G20 economic powers.
Wang said that Biden and Xi seek to “make the China-US relationship work” and to “steer clear of conflict and confrontation.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed “gratitude to the US and other international friends for their support of Taiwan and their concern for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
The international attention on the Taiwan Strait is crucial to obstructing attempts by China to expand its territory, the ministry said.
China frequently cites visits to Taiwan by international officials, support in the international community for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, and UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2758 as excuses to engage in acts of aggression toward Taiwan, it said.
Wang’s statement at the Asia Society that the “interference and connivance of the United States” had emboldened “Taiwanese independence forces” was an example of China’s conflation of the issues, the ministry said.
Wang’s justification of aggression toward Taiwan under the pretense of the so-called “one China” principle was “contemptible,” it added.
Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
RSS