US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan yesterday said that Washington and its Asia allies would “stand up” for stability across the Taiwan Strait and reiterated their commitment to freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea.
His comments came during a joint briefing with his Tokyo and Seoul counterparts, after a trilateral meeting in South Korea.
Late last month the top diplomats of South Korea, Japan and China — North Korea’s key ally and Washington’s rival — reaffirmed the need to hold a trilateral summit at the “earliest” possible time.
Photo: Reuters
The US and its Western allies have increased “freedom of navigation” crossings by naval vessels in both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, to reinforce that both are international waterways, angering Beijing.
“We will continue to stand up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation in the East and South China seas,” Sullivan told reporters in Seoul, alongside South Korean National Security Office Director Cho Tae-yong and Japanese National Security Secretariat Director-General Takeo Akiba.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has moved to strengthen ties between Seoul and long-standing ally Washington to counter rising threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.
He has also sought to resolve differences with Japan, another close US ally and Seoul’s former colonial ruler.
In August, the three allies said a “new chapter” of close three-way security cooperation was beginning after a historic summit at Camp David in the US.
Beijing had lodged complaints over a statement released at the summit at the time, in which the three nations criticized China’s “aggressive behavior” in the South China Sea.
In April, Yoon said tensions over Taiwan were due to “attempts to change the status quo by force.”
The comment resulted in a diplomatic tit-for-tat with China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner.
Last month, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing made efforts to organize a trilateral leaders’ summit. The last such meeting was in 2019.
Washington last month said that military ties between North Korea and Russia were “growing and dangerous” and called on China to restrain Pyongyang.
Sullivan also said the three allies have launched “new trilateral initiatives” to “counter the threats” posed by North Korea, including “deepened collaboration” among their coast guards.
Washington is working with Seoul and Tokyo to strengthen defense cooperation, Sullivan said.
He said they also seek to improve response to North Korean missile testing and space launch activities, including a real-time information sharing arrangement on North Korean missile launches that the countries plan to start this month.
Cho said the three security advisers reaffirmed North Korea’s obligations under multiple UN Security Council resolutions that call for its denuclearization and ban any weapons trade with other countries.
“We agreed to strengthen a coordination among the three countries to secure the international community’s strict implementation” of the UN Security Council resolutions, Cho said.
Cho said the three also highly praised South Korea, the US, Japan and Australia announcing their own sanctions on North Korea over its spy satellite launch last month.
North Korea said it has the right to launch spy satellites to monitor US and South Korean military activities and enhance the threat of its nuclear-capable missiles.
The North successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit last month — with Seoul saying Pyongyang did so with Moscow’s help.
North Korea soon after said its eye in the sky was already providing images of major US and South Korean military sites.
Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have led a chorus of global condemnation of the North for violating multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which bar it from tests using ballistic technology, used in both missiles and space launch rockets.
Additional reporting by AP
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS