US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday voiced concern over China’s aggression in the Taiwan Strait during a year-end news conference in Washington.
The US and its allies are “more closely aligned than ever” to face the challenges presented by Beijing, Blinken said.
Deepened cooperation and coordination with allies have enabled more effective strategies toward issues including “China’s coercive trade and economic practices, peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China seas, and human rights,” he said.
Photo: AFP
“We will continue to engage with China from a position of strength” with a stronger-than-ever partnership in the Indo-Pacific, he said, citing “a new era of trilateral cooperation” the US formed at Camp David with Japan and South Korea in August.
At the same time, the restoration of high-level diplomacy with Beijing has allowed Washington to “take practical steps to reduce the risk that competition veers into conflict,” he said.
Meanwhile, NBC News on Wednesday reported that the US rejected China’s request for a joint statement supporting the unification of Beijing and Taipei after a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last month.
NBC News cited two current and one former US officials who had been briefed on the issue.
Before the meeting, Chinese officials asked that Biden make a public statement afterward saying that the US supports China’s pursuit of peaceful unification with Taiwan and does not support Taiwan’s independence, a request that was rejected by the White House, it said.
Xi “bluntly” told Biden during their meeting that China will “reunify” Taiwan, but it has not decided on the timing yet, the officials were cited as saying.
Beijing preferred the unification be achieved peacefully, Xi told Biden, they said.
Regarding reports that during their meeting, Xi denied suspicions that China planned to take military action against Taiwan in 2027 or 2035, the officials said that Xi told Biden that the suspicion was wrong “because he has not set a time frame.”
Xi also expressed concerns about the nation’s presidential candidates in next month’s election and mentioned the influence of the US on Taiwan, NBC News reported without elaborating.
In response to Biden’s request that China respect Taiwan’s electoral process, Xi responded that peace is “all well and good,” but that China needs to eventually move toward a resolution, one US official was quoted as saying.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) yesterday said that Taiwan and the US have maintained good communication and a trusted relationship.
Taiwan appreciated the US’ long-term support for peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues and opposition to unilateral changes to the “status quo,” he said.
Also US Senator Lindsey Graham said he would help draft sanctions to impose on China if it tried invading Taiwan.
Graham said on Wednesday that he would work with lawmakers from both parties to “create a robust defense supplemental for Taiwan and second, draft preinvasion sanctions from hell to impose on China if they take action to seize Taiwan.”
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NATIONAL DAY: The ‘Taiwan Dome’ would form the centerpiece of new efforts to bolster air defense and be modeled after Israel’s ‘Iron Dome,’ sources said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged to strengthen the nation’s air defense capabilities and build a “T-Dome” system to create a safety net against growing military threats from China. “We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens,” he said in his National Day address. In his keynote address marking the Republic of China’s (ROC) 114th anniversary, Lai said the lessons of World War II have taught nations worldwide “to ensure that
RSS