A top US diplomat for Southeast Asia yesterday urged Pacific island nations not to withdraw diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, warning that Chinese pressure to change Taiwan’s international standing threatens to increase the possibility of conflict.
US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs W. Patrick Murphy spoke to reporters in Canberra at the end of a three-day visit to Australia for talks with government officials on expanding their security alliance.
Six Pacific island nations have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, accounting for one-third of the nation’s diplomatic allies around the world, but they are under intensifying pressure from Beijing to switch allegiance as it builds its influence in the region.
Photo: AP
Murphy said that diplomatic decisions should not be influenced by China.
“China is attempting to reduce Taiwan’s diplomatic relations in the region and that’s kind of heavy-handed,” Murphy said. “It gives rise to tensions by changing the ‘status quo’ and then the possibility of conflict.”
Then-Solomon Islands prime minister Rick Hou had promised to review the nation’s relations with Taiwan before he lost power in last month’s elections.
Switching recognition to China, the Solomon Islands’ biggest export market, remains a live issue.
Murphy said that the US has “strong diplomatic relations” with the Solomon Islands and had congratulated newly elected Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
Murphy declined to say whether he discussed with Australian officials concerns of some security analysts that China wants to construct a deep-water military base somewhere in the Pacific.
Chinese militarization in the Pacific would be as destabilizing as its militarization of disputed islands in the South China Sea, he said.
“A growing military presence anywhere in the region of a country like China that doesn’t work on a rules-based approach or adhere to international standards is and should be of concern,” Murphy said. “We have a lot of national interests in the region that are built on freedoms of commerce, navigation and overflight. We have key partners and the establishment of a military presence there, the notion, the concept, is indeed quite troubling.”
Murphy today is due to fly to Australia’s nearest neighbor, Papua New Guinea, where pro-Beijing Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill backs China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The US and Australia have committed to redevelop a naval base on Manus Island.
Murphy said that the Lombrum Naval Base expansion was about a “partnership with Papua New Guinea and meeting its needs,” not denying China a military presence in the nation of more than 8 million people.
When Australia and Papua New Guinea announced the upgrade in October last year, China cautioned both nations to discard “Cold War” thinking, referring to an era when the world was less integrated.
“The Pacific island countries should not be the sphere of influence of any country,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said at the time.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS