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.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS