The US and Japan on Friday said that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is essential to security in the Indo-Pacific region.
The joint statement was released by the White House after a meeting in Washington between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss their countries’ alliance and security issues, including possible conflicts in the Taiwan Strait.
“We emphasize that our basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, and reiterate the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community,” the statement said.
Photo: Reuters
“We encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues,” it added.
Biden and Kishida said that their alliance remains the cornerstone of welfare in the Indo-Pacific region.
However, they also recognize that the challenges their countries face transcend geography, particularly as a result of the war in Ukraine.
“United across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, we have stood together in firm opposition to Russia’s unjust and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, and we will continue to impose sanctions on Russia, and provide unwavering support for Ukraine,” the statement said.
The leaders also exchanged their views about the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, a US-led multilateral partnership involving 13 other countries, including Japan, that has been touted as a bulwark against China’s growing economic influence in the region, it said.
“As inclusive democracies, we will ensure economic prosperity is broadly shared across our societies and recommit to achieving gender equity and equality as well as women’s empowerment,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, Biden and Kishida also urged Beijing to do its part to report epidemiological and viral genomic sequence data regarding the spread of COVID-19 across China to enable global public health officials to identify possible new variants and to reduce their spread.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) yesterday said: “Maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait has clearly become the consensus of the international community, in the face of China’s expansionism, which challenges the global democratic order, and has aroused the concerns of liberal and democratic countries worldwide.”
Taiwan is bolstering its self-defense capabilities and resisting threats to its sovereignty, Hsiao said.
“We will also deepen cooperation with the US, Japan and other like-minded countries to safeguard the security of the Taiwan Strait, jointly promote development in the Indo-Pacific region, and ensure peace, stability and economic prosperity,” he said.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in