The US hopes China will not use any visits by US lawmakers to Taiwan as an excuse for military action, a senior US diplomat said on Wednesday, adding that all countries should warn Beijing against conflict over the nation.
US-China relations were rocked in August last year by a visit to Taiwan by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Since then, several US lawmakers have visited Taiwan, and speculation has swirled that Pelosi’s successor, Kevin McCarthy, could visit Taiwan in the spring or summer.
Photo: REUTERS
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told an event at the Brookings Institution think tank that the US was committed to support Taiwan and its ability to defend itself under its “one China” policy.
“We hope that the PRC [People’s Republic of China] does not use a visit by a member of [the US] Congress to Taiwan as a pretext for military action,” Sherman said.
China staged military drills around Taiwan proper after Pelosi’s visit.
Strained relations between Washington and Beijing deteriorated further this month after the US military shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon that flew across US territory.
Sherman drew on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a lesson for China against any moves in the Taiwan Strait, saying the war had increased energy and food insecurity for the whole world, as well as inflationary pressures.
“The same would be true of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait,” Sherman said. “And so, I urge all countries to tell the PRC this affects me. This affects my people, my country. This is not a good idea.”
Sherman said Washington had “growing concern” about China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia and its support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, even as it was attempting to increase its global standing by saying it would help mediate an end to the conflict.
She said China could not have it both ways.
“But what I would say to all of those who are supporting Russia, you’re going to end up with an albatross around your neck,” Sherman said, adding that Ukraine would deliver a strategic failure for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“That’s going to create a lot of problems for those who are supporting this unholy invasion going forward,” she said.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among