Chinese war games around Taiwan “unnecessarily” spiked tensions in the region, the US Department of State said on Thursday, calling on Beijing to “cease its military pressure.”
“China’s military activities and rhetoric toward Taiwan and others in the region increase tensions unnecessarily,” US Department of State spokesman Tommy Pigott said about 48 hours after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) wrapped up exercises covering the largest combined area in decades.
The PLA simulated a blockade of Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday with live-fire exercises encircling Taiwan proper. It launched long-range projectiles into the Taiwan Strait — one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes — for the first time since 2022, although the drills did not rise to the same intensity as those three years ago when China fired missiles over Taiwan.
Photo: Reuters
“We urge Beijing to exercise restraint, cease its military pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue,” the State Department said, adding that it opposes changes to the “status quo” “by force or coercion.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) welcomed the support.
“Taiwan and the US share the values of freedom and democracy. Governments and parliaments from various countries have spoken out, demonstrating that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait has become an international consensus and aligns with the important interests of all parties,” Lin said yesterday, adding that Taipei would “work with the US and all like-minded countries to jointly uphold the rules-based international order.”
US President Donald Trump initially dismissed the drills as a continuation of long-standing Chinese activity.
“They’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area,” he said after live-fire drills on Monday, touting his “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The EU, UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines and Canada voiced concerns days before the State Department.
China blasted the criticism, calling Taiwan an “internal affair.”
Taipei has condemned the exercises as “highly provocative.”
The Ministry of National Defense said the PLA fired 27 rockets during the second day of the drills, with 10 landing in waters within Taiwan’s 24-nautical-mile (44.4km) contiguous zone, the closest-ever Chinese live-fire activity to Taiwan.
Beijing framed its latest maneuvers as a warning to “separatist forces” and “external interference,” after the US last month unveiled an US$11 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
The US has been committed for decades to ensuring Taiwan’s self-defense, while staying ambiguous on whether its military would intervene in an invasion.
China defended the drills as “legitimate” and warned countries to “stop stirring up trouble on the Taiwan Strait issue.”
“We urge relevant countries and institutions to strictly abide by the one China principle,” a Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson said in a statement responding to calls for restraint, including from the US.
Additional reporting by CNA
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