China should prepare for military action over Taiwan following passage of the US’ Taiwan Travel Act, an editorial in China’s Global Times said yesterday.
China has to “strike back” against the US’ act, for example by pressuring the US in other areas of bilateral cooperation such as North Korea and Iran, said the paper, which is published by the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily.
“The mainland must also prepare itself for a direct military clash in the Taiwan Strait. It needs to make clear that escalation of US-Taiwan official exchanges will bring serious consequences to Taiwan,” the editorial said. “This newspaper has suggested that the mainland can send military planes and warships across the Taiwan Straits middle line. This can be implemented gradually depending on the cross-straits [sic] situation.”
Photo: Screen grab from AIT’s Facebook page
Beijing was infuriated after US President Donald Trump on Friday last week signed the legislation that encourages the US to send senior US officials to Taiwan to meet their counterparts and vice versa.
Despite Beijing’s warnings, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday announced that US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing Ian Steff arrived yesterday for a six-day visit to strengthen bilateral trade, commercial and investment relations, his first as deputy assistant secretary.
He is one of the officials responsible for executing the Trump administration’s plans to foster growth in US manufacturing jobs and investments, the AIT said.
The first US official to visit Taipei following the act’s enactment, Alex Wong (黃之瀚), deputy assistant secretary at the US State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, on Wednesday night told an American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei banquet that the US commitment to Taiwan has never been stronger and that Taiwan was an inspiration to the rest of the Indo-Pacific region.
In other developments, the US Department of State on Wednesday reiterated that the US opposes any unilateral action that alters the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait.
The US has a “deep and abiding interest in cross-strait peace and stability, so it welcomes steps to reduce tension and improve cross-strait relations,” a department spokesperson said when asked about China’s aircraft carrier passing through the Taiwan Strait on a routine exercise.
The Chinese carrier entered the Strait on Tuesday and left at about noon on Wednesday, Minister of National Defense Yen Teh-fa (嚴德發) said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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