A US and Japanese consensus on the need to assert peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a positive development for Taiwan, Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday, adding that the government has no plans to dispatch the marine corps back to Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島) at the moment.
Chiu was the director of the National Security Bureau before he was assigned to the new post on Feb. 23 by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
He attended a meeting yesterday of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee to deliver his first report for the new post.
Photo: CNA
Answering media queries before the session, Chiu lauded the affirmation by the US and Japanese defense officials of “the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan has been under the pressure of a big, hostile country, and the US and Japanese consensus is a positive step toward further cooperation with Taiwan, he said.
The consensus was part of the conclusions of a 2+2 meeting involving US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi and Japanese Minister of Defense Nobuo Kishi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
“We remain opposed to any unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo, including in the East and South China seas,” they said in a joint statement.
During the legislative session, Chiu acknowledged that the Taiwan Strait might be an area of potential conflict, in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) to name the top five hot spots where military conflicts are mostly likely to break out in the near term.
Chiu also named the China-India border, the South China Sea and the Middle East as potential hot spots.
Chiang asked Chiu if he thought tensions in the South China Sea are escalating, and if Germany, the UK and France are following in the US’ steps when they announced plans to send warships to patrol the region.
Tensions in the South China Sea are indeed rising because of Chinese expansionism, while the US hopes to maintain freedom of navigation in the area by engaging its allies, Chiu said.
Allies Germany, France and the UK would reach a consensus first before making a similar move, he added.
Asked if the ministry would dispatch marines to Itu Aba again, Chiu said that the ministry does not plan to do so at this time, adding that the government “had a reason” in replacing a marine corps with coast guard personnel on the island.
The ministry is reinforcing the island’s defense deployments through other means, Chiu said.
In June last year, the ministry dispatched some marines to the Dongsha Atoll to receive short-term training, it said.
Separately yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the US and Japan for drawing attention to the need for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The government would continue to work closely with the US, Japan and other like-minded partners to defend democratic institutions, a rules-based international order, as well as regional peace, stability and prosperity, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
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