The US and the EU in a joint statement issued on Friday expressed their opposition to Chinese economic coercion and any actions to unilaterally change the cross-strait “status quo.”
The statement was released following the conclusion of talks between US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino in Brussels.
Sherman, who led a state department delegation to Brussels from Tuesday to Friday, held talks with Sannino on a number of issues, including Taiwan, during the third high-level US-EU Dialogue on China.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The statement said that the US and the EU “expressed their support for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, and discouraged any actions, which undermine the status quo.”
The statement said that both sides expressed “particular concern about” and “opposition to” recent incidents of economic coercion by China, and stressed the importance of international cooperation in addressing growing instances of economic coercion, likely a reference to China’s ban on Lithuanian imports as a response to the Baltic state’s decision last year to allow the opening of a representative office in Vilnius that used the name “Taiwan” instead of “Taipei.”
The EU has accused China of “discriminatory” and “illegal” trade practices against Lithuania.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait had become “the mainstream” in the US, the EU and other democratic nations.
The ministry said it thanked and welcomed the US and the EU for their persistent support for Taiwan, adding that they made similar statements last year after the previous high-level talks on China as well as the G7 Summit.
Taiwan would continue seeking a role in international affairs and strive to contribute to the stability of the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, the ministry said.
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