Washington supports its European partners and allies as they develop mutually beneficial relations with Taiwan, the US Department of State said on Tuesday, adding that each country should be able to interpret its own “one China” policy.
US Department of State spokesman Ned Price made the remarks at a news conference when asked to comment on China demanding Lithuania to withdraw its ambassador from Beijing earlier that day.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 20 announced its plan to establish a representative office in Lithuania — the first office in Europe to have “Taiwanese” in its name.
Photo courtesy of the US Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub
Lithuania plans to open a representative office in Taiwan by this fall, although the two nations do not have formal diplomatic ties.
“Well, we do stand in solidarity with our NATO ally Lithuania and we condemn the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] recent retaliatory actions, including the recall of Beijing’s ambassador from Vilnius and demanding Lithuania recall its ambassador from Beijing,” Price said.
“Taiwan is a global leader in public health and advanced manufacturing and democratic governance, to name just a few areas in which the international community — including the United States — benefits from engagement with Taiwan,” he added.
“Each country should be able to determine the contours of its own ‘one China’ policy without outside coercion. We have done just that,” he said.
Asked what actions the US expects Japan to take to keep stability across the Taiwan Strait — after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese National Security Adviser Akiba Takeo met in Washington on Monday — Price reiterated the US’ support for a peaceful resolution of cross-strait relations.
“We have urged Beijing ... to cease its military, its diplomatic, its economic pressure against Taiwan and to engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan,” Price said.
In Taipei, the foreign ministry said it welcomed Washington’s comments.
The ministry thanked US President Joe Biden’s administration for continuously supporting Taiwan, and backing Taiwan and Lithuania in establishing representative offices in each other’s countries, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement yesterday.
Taiwan would continue to develop practical and mutually beneficial relations with all like-minded countries, without flinching under outside coercion, she added.
On Tuesday, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed regret over Beijing’s move to recall its ambassador, but said that the country is determined to pursue mutually beneficial ties with Taiwan, like many other countries in the EU and around the world.
If Lithuania does not cease its engagements with Taiwan, it is not impossible that China and Lithuania might sever relations, Liu Zuokui (劉作奎), director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Department of Central and Eastern European Studies, told the Chinese-language Global Times on Tuesday.
Nabila Massrali, spokeswoman for the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic body, told the Central News Agency that while the ambassador recall was a bilateral matter between China and Lithuania, developments in Beijing’s ties with individual EU members “inevitably have an impact on overall EU-China relations.”
“We regret the Chinese action, and are following developments closely,” Massrali said in a statement.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect