US denounces China’s ‘destabilizing’ activity near Taiwan

The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, denounced this Saturday “provocative and destabilizing” military activity by China near Taiwan; a day after Beijing warned that it will not hesitate to go to war if the island declares independence.

“We see increasing coercion from Beijing. We have witnessed a progressive increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” Austin told the Shangri-la Dialogue, a security forum in Singapore.

“That includes aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months and at almost a daily rate,” he stressed. However, he also stressed the importance of keeping “fully open lines of communication with China’s defense officials” to avoid miscalculations.

According to an official spokesman, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe assured Austin on the sidelines of the forum on Friday that “if anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate to start a war, no matter what.” whatever it costs”.

The minister also said that Beijing would “squash” any attempt at the island’s independence and would “resolutely defend the unification of the motherland.”

This Saturday, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry reacted by calling China’s claims “absurd”. “Taiwanese will not give in to threats of force used by the Chinese government,” he said in a statement.

[ China advierte a Estados Unidos que no dudará en ‘iniciar una guerra’ si Taiwán se declara independiente ]

Conflict

In recent months, tensions have intensified between the United States and China over Taiwan, an island with a democratic government and de facto separated from Beijing since 1949, when the nationalists defeated by Mao Tse-tung’s communists took refuge.

Beijing considers this territory of 24 million inhabitants as one of its provinces and often reiterates its goal of recovering it sooner or later and, if necessary, by force.

Since arriving at the White House, US President Joe Biden has been outspoken in his support for Taiwan and last month appeared to break decades of ambiguity from Washington by saying it would defend the island militarily if attacked by China.

“We categorically oppose any unilateral change to the status quo by any party,” Austin said on Saturday. “Our policy has not changed. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case for China,” he added.

During Xi Jinping’s government, China has increased its pressure on this island and in recent years has increased military aircraft incursions near Taiwan. Last year, Taiwan recorded 969 Chinese warplane raids on the air defense zone, more than double the 380 in 2020.

In his speech this Saturday, the Pentagon chief also criticized China for its “coercive and aggressive strategy in its territorial claims.”

Beijing claims its sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an area rich in resources – and through which trillions of dollars of goods transit each year – that is disputed with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

[ China ‘firmemente opuesta’ a negociaciones comerciales entre EE. UU. y Taiwán ]

another showdown

Both powers are also at odds over the war in Ukraine, in which Washington accuses Beijing of tacitly backing Moscow.

“The invasion of Russia is what happens when oppressors trample on the rules that protect us all,” the Pentagon chief said.

Austin is the latest top US official to travel to Asia in a sign of Washington’s interest in refocusing its attention on this region despite the Ukraine war.

In late May, Biden traveled to Japan and South Korea, during which visits he expressed his commitment to stand up for Taiwan.

After these statements, the White House said that it maintains its policy of “strategic ambiguity” by which the United States provides military material to Taiwan, while recognizing China’s sovereignty over the territory and does not clarify whether it would intervene in an armed conflict.

Wein is scheduled to address the security forum in Singapore on Sunday, the final day of the event.

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