The US has for the first time held high-level talks with the UK over how they can cooperate more to reduce the likelihood of war with China over Taiwan, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and US National Security Council China and Taiwan Senior Director Laura Rosenberger held a meeting on Taiwan with UK representatives in early March, the newspaper said in a report yesterday.
It quoted “three people familiar with the stepped-up engagement” as saying that the “US wanted to boost cooperation with European allies, such as the UK, to raise awareness about what the administration regards as Beijing’s increasingly assertive attitude toward Taiwan.”
Photo: Reuters
“The US is not engaging the UK because of an imminent threat. The Taiwan dialogue is intended to complement more advanced discussions that the US has been holding with Japan and Australia, as Beijing has stepped up military activity around Taiwan,” it added.
The report quoted a UK official as saying that the meeting was the “highest-level and most significant discussion between the countries on Taiwan to date.”
The report said that the White House would not comment on the matter and that a UK government spokesperson said: “We never comment on private meetings,” but it quoted a Taiwanese official as saying that “Taipei was aware of the US’ efforts to involve more allies in its Taiwan planning.”
Former US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia Heino Klinck was quoted by the Financial Times as welcoming the talks.
“Deterring Chinese aggression against Taiwan is in everyone’s interest,” Klinck said. “US military planners are not counting on Germany or France sending warships, or Britain sending a carrier in the case of a conflict over Taiwan. But when those countries send ships to the South China Sea, or transit the Taiwan Strait, it sends a strong signal to China.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of National Defense on Saturday said that two Chinese military aircraft had earlier that day flown into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
The air force responded by scrambling intercept jets to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issuing radio warnings and mobilizing air defense assets, it said.
The ministry has been publishing information about such flights since September 2020, amid a rising number of intrusions into the ADIZ by the Chinese military.
The largest number of flights in a single day was 56, recorded on Oct. 4 last year, while the highest number this year was 39 on Jan. 23, the ministry said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it