US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Saturday reiterated their opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait by force.
In a wide-ranging, one-on-one conversation on Saturday morning, the leaders “reiterated their resolve to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and “underscored their opposition to any attempts to change the status quo by force,” a White House news release on the meeting said.
They also “discussed their respective diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and their shared concerns about the PRC’s coercive and destabilizing activities, including in the South China Sea,” it said.
Photo: Reuters
In addition to discussing their dedication to developing and protecting technologies such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, they also “committed to sustain efforts to take the US-Japan Alliance to new heights and to continue standing side-by-side together as steadfast global partners.”
The gathering was also an opportunity for them to bid each other farewell, as Biden would leave office in January, while Kishida last month announced that he would step down.
Biden on Saturday also hosted Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth in-person Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders’ summit.
Photo: AFP
The Wilmington Declaration Joint Statement released after the summit said that they “unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity.”
They also said that they “strongly oppose any destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion” and “condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed its gratitude to the US, Japan and like-mined countries for restating the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.
Their statements again demonstrated that the international community is highly concerned about peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
“As a responsible member of the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded partners to safeguard peace, stability, and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and throughout the Indo-Pacific,” it added.
Meanwhile, at Saturday’s Quad meeting, Biden was caught on a hot mic telling the leaders that an aggressive China is “testing us,” in remarks that risked undercutting the summit declaration that carefully avoided mentioning Beijing by name.
“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region,” Biden was heard in what were supposed to be behind-closed-doors remarks.
Biden said that while Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was focusing on “domestic economic challenges,” he was also “looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.”
The hot mic blunder risked undermining careful diplomatic efforts by all four countries during the summit to insist that their grouping is about more than just providing a counterweight to China.
Additional reporting by AFP
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
RSS