The US is undertaking “strategic planning” with ally Australia to consider potential joint responses to a war over Taiwan, US President Joe Biden’s top diplomat in Canberra said yesterday.
“We’re committed as allies to working together — not only in making our militaries interoperable and functioning well together, but also in strategic planning,” Michael Goldman, charge d’affaires ad interim at the US embassy in Canberra, said in an Australian National University podcast, when asked about a potential role for Australia in a Taiwan contingency.
“And when you look at strategic planning, it covers the range of contingencies that you’ve mentioned, of which Taiwan is obviously an important component,” Goldman added.
Photo: Reuters
While Australia regularly hails its history of being involved in every major US conflict over the past century, it has yet to officially commit to taking part in a potential conflict over Taiwan.
The US also makes no iron-clad guarantees it will come to Taiwan’s defense if China makes good on threats to invade, only agreeing to help its capacity for self-defense.
China has stepped up military exercises around Taiwan over the past few years as Washington bolsters diplomatic ties with Taipei.
The comments risk inflaming US-China relations as Beijing hits back hard over criticism from Western countries over everything from allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang and cracking down on democracy advocates in Hong Kong to increased intimidation of Taiwan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government views all of them as “internal matters,” and has begun to lash out at companies that take a position on them.
China has also hit Australia with trade reprisals since Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government called for independent investigators to be allowed into Wuhan, China, to probe the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week said that Beijing “apparently helped to write” a WHO report studying the origins of COVID-19.
Goldman, who is heading the embassy until Washington replaces former US ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse, who left in January, also backed up comments by US National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell.
In a newspaper interview last month, Campbell said that US relations with China would not improve until Beijing stops its economic coercion against Australia.
Other nations including Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam have also been targeted with economic action by Beijing, he said.
“We really can’t expect to have substantial improvements in our relationship with China while it’s holding hostage the economies of our partner nations,” Goldman said.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS