A US Department of State spokesperson yesterday called China's latest drills near Taiwan "brazen and irresponsible threats" while reiterating Washington's decades-long support of Taipei.
"China cannot credibly claim to be a 'force for stability in a turbulent world' while issuing brazen and irresponsible threats toward Taiwan," a unnamed department spokesperson said in an e-mail.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, Bloomberg
The spokesperson said Washington's enduring commitment to Taiwan would continue as it has for 45 years, and that the US "will continue to support Taiwan in the face of China's military, economic, informational and diplomatic pressure campaign."
"Alongside our international partners, we firmly support cross-strait peace and stability and oppose any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion," the spokesperson said.
A US Department of Defense spokesperson said that the US military was monitoring Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) activity around Taiwan, but did not elaborate.
The two US government spokespeople made the remarks when asked to comment on the US' stance on the PLA's military activity around Taiwan on Monday.
The PLA sent more than two dozen Chinese military aircraft across the median line of the Taiwan Strait and dozens more into Taiwan's air defense identification zone in collaboration with Chinese naval vessels on Monday from 6am to about 9pm, according to data issued by Taiwan's military.
PLA activity in the previous week leading into Monday and yesterday (when there were 10 jet fighter sorties and one that crossed the median line) was relatively calm.
China' Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the drills on Monday were a "just and necessary" move to safeguard national sovereignty and peace in the Taiwan Strait.
The drills are also a countermeasure to moves by "Taiwan's leader" to "propagate separatist fallacies aimed at 'Taiwan independence' and his act to escalate tensions and confrontation across the Strait," Chen said, referring to President William Lai (賴清德).
Asked to comment on the relatively stern wording used by the US State Department on the PLA drills, Robert Wang, a former State Department official, said that it "sounds like relatively strong language to me."
Julian Ku, a Hofstra University law professor, also said the word "brazen" is "a little unusual from the State Department as applied to these kinds of exercises."
He said he agreed "this is a slight change in tone."
"Overall, the State Department has not shown any signs of softer language on China or on Taiwan as compared with the [former US president Joe] Biden administration, and probably a little more Taiwan supportive, as in this case," he said.
During last year's "Joint Sword 2024B" military exercises around Taiwan in October, the State Department said it was "seriously concerned" by PLA's military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan and described them "unwarranted" and risking escalation.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS