The US Department of State on Wednesday reaffirmed its “rock-solid” commitment to Taiwan and said that Washington maintains the ability to resist any actions that would threaten Taiwan’s security, as China steps up its military pressure.
The remarks by State Department spokesman Ned Price came as a Chinese aircraft carrier group conducted drills in waters off Taiwan and as 15 Chinese planes entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone that day, in the fifth straight day of such incursions.
Asked at a press briefing about Beijing’s apparent ratcheting up of pressure on Taipei, Price reaffirmed that the US’ commitment to Taiwan remains “rock solid.”
Photo: Reuters
Washington has watched with great concern China’s ongoing efforts to intimidate countries in the region, including Taiwan, he said.
In support of longstanding US policy, including the Taiwan Relations Act, the US “maintains the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social and economic system of the people on Taiwan,” he said.
On the same day, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense was asked if the transit of a US naval vessel through the Taiwan Strait was related to the recent uptick in tension.
The USS John S. McCain, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, conducted “a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 7 through international waters in accordance with international law,” a press statement by the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said.
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the US does not conduct freedom of navigation exercises around the world in response to specific events or actions, but rather to demonstrate its commitment to the freedom of all nations to “sail, operate and fly in accordance with international law.”
Asked to comment on Price’s remarks, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) yesterday questioned who is really using intimidation tactics in the Taiwan Strait, as well as other places around the world.
US vessels have been flexing their muscles in the Taiwan Strait, sending wrong signals to pro-Taiwan independence forces and posing a threat to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, he said at a news briefing, while highlighting US’ military action in the Middle East over the past few decades.
China has never meant to intimidate anyone, nor will it fear anybody’s intimidation, he said, urging the US to abide by the “one China” principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Tourism in Kenting fell to a historic low for the second consecutive year last year, impacting hotels and other local businesses that rely on a steady stream of domestic tourists, the latest data showed. A total of 2.139 million tourists visited Kenting last year, down slightly from 2.14 million in 2024, the data showed. The number of tourists who visited the national park on the Hengchun Peninsula peaked in 2015 at 8.37 million people. That number has been below 2.2 million for two years, although there was a spike in October last year due to multiple long weekends. The occupancy rate for hotels
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS