US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday said that he sees no imminent invasion of Taiwan by China, but said Beijing was trying to establish a “new normal” with its military activities around the nation.
A visit to Taiwan in early August by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi enraged China, which subsequently intensified military drills around the nation. Those have continued, although on a much reduced scale.
“I don’t see an imminent invasion,” Austin said in an interview on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS that was recorded on Friday.
Photo: screen grab from CNN
“What we do see is China moving to establish what we would call a new normal. Increased activity — we saw a number of center-line crossings of the Taiwan Strait by their aircraft. That number has increased over time. We’ve seen more activity with their surface vessels and waters in and around Taiwan,” he said.
The US and its allies have responded to the drills by continuing to sail through the region. A US Navy warship and a Canadian frigate made a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 20.
The US would continue to work with its allies and partners “to ensure that we maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Austin said in the interview.
The US would help Taiwan develop the capability to defend itself from a Chinese invasion, he added, stopping short of US President Joe Biden’s vow to send troops to the nation.
“We’re committed to helping Taiwan develop the capability to defend itself,” Austin said.
Washington has historically maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether it would intervene militarily if Taiwan were attacked by China.
Asked in an interview with CBS last month whether US troops would defend Taiwan, Biden said “yes,” if it were “an unprecedented attack.”
Asked by CNN host Fareed Zakaria whether the US military was preparing to send troops to Taiwan in line with Biden’s comments, Austin declined to answer directly.
“The American military is always prepared to protect our interests and live up to our commitments. I think the president was clear in providing his answers as he responded to a hypothetical question,” Austin said.
“But, again, we continue to work to make sure that we have the right capabilities in the right places to ensure that we help our allies maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Meanwhile, Austin said that the US is working to reopen channels of military communication with China.
Beijing in August halted cooperation with the US in a number of areas, including dialogue between senior-level military commanders, in retaliation for Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
Austin said he had spoken to Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe (魏鳳和) “on the phone and in person,” but the communication channel between them is “not open” right now.
“We’ll do everything we can to continue to signal that we want those channels open, and I would hope that China would begin to lean forward a bit more and work with us,” Austin said.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RSS