Views in Taiwan are “hardening” in favor of independence after China’s moves in the past few years to tighten control over Hong Kong, the head of the US intelligence community said on Thursday.
“I would say that already Taiwan is hardening, to some extent, toward independence as they’re watching, essentially, what happened in Hong Kong, and I think that is an increasing challenge,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said in testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
Questions about China dominated the “Worldwide Threats” hearing with Haines and US Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Photo: Bloomberg
US-China ties have remained tense into US President Joe Biden’s administration, which has continued to criticize Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the South China Sea. Haines previously called China an “unparalleled priority” for the intelligence community.
The spy chief was pressed by US Senator Jack Reed, the panel’s chairman, on the impact that a shift clarifying the US’ long-held position of “strategic ambiguity” on defending Taiwan if it is attacked would have in Beijing and Taipei. Such a move would involve the US saying definitively that it would come to Taiwan’s aid in the case of an attack.
China “would find this deeply” destabilizing, and it would “solidify Chinese perceptions that the US is bent on constraining China’s rise, including through military force,” Haines said.
Berrier said he sees a “significant” threat from China’s rapid modernization of its military, saying that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is capable of placing nuclear warheads on its next-generation hypersonic missiles.
China is increasingly using technology to try to “gain near-real-time tracking and observation” of Pentagon personnel and activities, he added.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) yesterday told a regular briefing that Beijing is determined to uphold its “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The US should sufficiently recognize the harmful and dangerous nature of Taiwan independence,” he said.
A record 32 percent of Taiwan’s public favors immediate or eventual independence, according to a poll in December last year by the Election Study Center at National Chengchi University.
That figure comes as Beijing tightens its political grip over Hong Kong, in part by imposing national security legislation on the territory.
Still, 54 percent of the survey respondents expressed a preference for maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS