Top officials from the US, Japan and South Korea on Monday reaffirmed the importance of stability in the Taiwan Strait in a joint statement following a trilateral meeting in Washington.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman hosted Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori and South Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun-dong in Washington on Monday to discuss cooperation on pressing global issues.
It was the third vice-ministerial dialogue between the countries in the past year.
Photo: AP
In a joint statement released after their meeting, the ministers said they discussed topics including North Korean missile launches and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
They also reiterated their opposition to unilateral attempts to change the “status quo,” including in the Indo-Pacific region.
Without mentioning China by name, the ministers said they “reiterated their firm commitment to the rule of law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight.”
They said that their position on Taiwan “remains unchanged,” while highlighting “the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community.”
They also vowed to keep working closely with ASEAN to address challenges including climate change, digital connectivity, security, public health and sustainable economic growth.
While the statement did not mention China, Sherman told reporters after the meeting that the US would continue working with Japan, South Korea and other partners to resist China’s challenge to the international rules-based order.
This includes Beijing’s destabilizing activities in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the South and East China seas, she said.
Asked about the potential for a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) at the Munich Security Conference this week, Sherman said she had nothing to announce, but did not rule it out.
Blinken earlier this month postponed a trip to Beijing due to what he called an unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and airspace by a Chinese surveillance balloon that was later downed off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.
One US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that a meeting between Blinken and Wang was possible at the Munich conference, which runs from Friday to Sunday.
A second source also said it was possible, but that nothing had been confirmed.
Additional reporting by CNA and Reuters
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