The US, Japan and South Korea underlined the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait in a joint statement issued a day after the three governments held the first trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue in Washington on Friday.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, Japanese Foreign Policy Bureau Deputy Minister and Director-General Yasuhiro Kobe and South Korean Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Byung-won met to discuss each country’s Indo-Pacific approach and opportunities for cooperation, the US Department of State said in a news release on Saturday.
The three representatives “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to security and prosperity in the international community,” it said.
Photo: Screengrab from X page of the US Department Of State Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Regarding China’s “dangerous and escalatory behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims” in the South China Sea, the three urged countries to follow international law, the statement said.
They “opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion anywhere in the waters of the Indo-Pacific,” it said.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the statement and thanked the three countries for reiterating their stance on the Taiwan Strait issue.
The statement followed the concern voiced by US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol during their summit in August last year, the ministry said in a news release yesterday.
Beijing’s recent deployment of balloons across the Taiwan Strait’s median line, suspension of tariff cuts on imports of certain Taiwanese products and cognitive warfare campaign were clear attempts to influence Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections on Saturday, the ministry said.
The importance of cross-strait peace and stability is a global consensus, it said, adding that Taiwan would continue working with like-minded partners to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Separately, Japan and South Korea could consider Taiwan a common strategic issue, which would improve security in the Indo-Pacific region, a Taiwanese researcher said in the Annual Assessment of the Security Environment in the Indo-Pacific Region report.
The report was published on Wednesday last week by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
If Japan and South Korea are willing to cooperate with each other and even with Taipei to deter China from invading Taiwan, a “Taiwan contingency” could be prevented, institute associate research fellow Wang Tsun-yen (王尊彥) said.
Japan’s stance regarding the issue — “a Taiwan contingency is a Japan contingency” — is known, while South Korea has begun voicing concerns about the cross-strait situation in the second half of the administration of former South Korean president Moon Jae-in, he said.
Ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in the two countries’ interests, as a cross-strait conflict would inevitably affect Japan and the Strait is a crucial gateway to Southeast Asia and South Asia, according to South Korea’s New Southern Policy, he said.
Growing ties between Japan and South Korea in the past year have “great strategic significance in terms of the Indo-Pacific region’s security,” he added.
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