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
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