US Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday called on the US to keep an open mind about sending troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
In an interview on Fox News, he said that China’s military exercises over the past few days are “setting conditions to blockade Taiwan in the coming months or weeks.”
“We need to respond forcefully,” he said.
Photo: AFP
If China enforces a blockade, the US should cut off oil shipments to China from the Middle East, he said, adding the US should train Taiwanese more aggressively and deploy more forces in the region to deter China.
“I believe in a ‘one China’ policy, but I would be willing to fight for Taiwan,” because it is a democracy that the US has supported for decades, Graham said.
“Strategic ambiguity is not working,” he said, calling for a defense agreement with Taipei, as using US forces to defend Taiwan is “in our national security interests.”
China on Saturday launched three days of drills around Taiwan in response to a meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said that using Tsai’s stopover in the US as an excuse to conduct military drills would only exacerbate the antipathy of Taiwanese toward China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns China’s intimidation as it contravenes the UN principle that international disputes should be resolved peacefully, Wu said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei.
Stopping over in the US on the way to visit Latin American allies is a long-term practice of Taiwanese presidents, rendering the Chinese excuse “invalid,” he said.
Taiwanese bear no hostility toward China, but threatening Taiwan “will only cause the two sides of the Strait to drift further apart,” he said, urging China to stop its military drills.
Nations around the world have repeatedly in the past two or three years highlighted the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait in statements issued after international summits, Wu said.
These nations oppose any attempt, particularly through force, to unilaterally change the cross-strait “status quo,” so they would not approve of China’s military harassment of Taiwan, he said.
Meanwhile, the ministry yesterday thanked the American Institute in Taiwan and the US Department of State for voicing support for Taiwan amid Beijing’s provocations.
The US on Sunday urged China to exercise restraint and not change the “status quo,” adding that it has enough resources to ensure peace and stability in the region.
It is a sovereign nation’s fundamental right to send its head of state to visit other countries — an issue which China has no right to comment on, the ministry said in a statement.
Taiwan would continue to work with like-minded nations to curb authoritarianism, and ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region, it added.
The ministry also thanked Belgian lawmaker Georges Dallemagne, cochair of the Belgium-Taiwan Friendship Group, for voicing support for Taiwan in an article published in the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) yesterday.
An English version appears in today’s Taipei Times on page 8.
“There is absolutely every reason to ... defend the ‘status quo’ of Taiwan,” he wrote.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old