The US’ top military officer, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Wednesday that tensions between China and Taiwan had “gone down” in recent months and that he believed the danger of armed conflict had been reduced.
Asked at a Washington conference on military leadership if China was still focused on intimidating Taiwan, he replied: “What I’ve seen with the election of a new government in Taiwan is that there is a more stable relationship between Taipei and Beijing.”
“In that regard, it seems to be moving in the right direction. We are still very clear on our one China policy in that what we want to see is a peaceful resolution between Taiwan and China over time,” he said.
Mullen said that the US had obligations to support Taiwan, that the US had fulfilled those obligations in the past and that “we will continue to do so.”
But turning to the longer term future he said that while “most of all” Washington wanted to see the China-Taiwan situation resolved peacefully
“When we think about conflict in that part of the world, that’s often very much on people’s minds,” he said.
The admiral stressed that the US-China military-to-military relationship — only recently restored after a long break triggered by US weapons sales to Taiwan — was of great importance.
He said that China was developing military technologies “very focused” on US capabilities, particularly aircraft carriers.
In addition, Mullen said, Beijing was building ballistic missiles, space and anti-satellite weapons “and they are heavily engaged in the cyber world and it’s a concern.”
“So, that issue is certainly one that we consistently address ... I’m just hopeful that we can have enough of a relationship with their military leaders to be able to talk with them about these challenges and address them and listen and also listen to their concerns,” Mullen said.
“On the one hand, they’re a growing country and certainly they have growing global requirements, even growing regional requirements,” he said. “I’m hoping that we can have enough of a relationship with them that we can avoid any serious conflict in the future. It’s a very stable region, generally speaking.”
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS