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's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in