US President Joe Biden expressed concern about China’s “provocative actions” during a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday, the White House said.
Biden and Xi mainly discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the nearly two-hour call.
Biden warned Xi of “implications and consequences” should China support Russia’s invasion, as Beijing had so far been reluctant to criticize the Kremlin and is suspected of providing assistance to Russia, the White House said.
Photo: REUTERS
Biden voice concern over Beijing’s “coercive and provocative actions” across the Taiwan Strait, a senior US administration official said during a news call after the bilateral talks.
Biden told Xi that the US continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the cross-strait “status quo,” a transcription issued by the White House showed.
Biden reiterated that the US is committed to its “one China” policy, and stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the official added.
Xi warned of a profound impact on China-US relations if Washington does not properly handle the “Taiwan question,” a separate transcription issued by the Chinese government showed.
Xi also accused “some people” in the US of “sending wrong signals to Taiwan’s independence forces,” the Chinese transcription showed.
Asked if Biden responded to Xi’s accusation, the senior official said: “Biden’s response was about just reaffirming our continued, consistent policy — very long-standing policy — while underscoring concerns about Beijing’s coercive and provocative actions across the Strait.”
“The Biden administration has consistently demonstrated rock-solid support for Taiwan and will continue to do so,” the official added.
In Taipei, the Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US for emphasizing security in the Strait and its support for Taiwan.
The nation would continue to work closely with the US and other like-minded countries, the office said in a statement.
Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region is the responsibility of all regional stakeholders, office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said, urging China to shoulder its responsibility.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Biden’s remarks highlighted the common ground between Taiwan and the US with regard to cross-strait peace and stability.
“We urge China to stop the hostile actions and provocations in the Taiwan Strait, as well as to end the ‘united front’ tactics against Taiwan,” the DPP said in a news statement.
“A complete change is needed in China’s attitude toward dealing with cross-strait relations. China should take up the goodwill shown by Taiwan to engage in dialogue on an equal footing to enable healthy cross-strait development,” it added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Department of International Affairs head Alexander Huang (黃介正) wrote on Facebook: “The US has stated its position on cross-strait relations, which basically meant to ‘stay on the road, do not run red lights and do not bump into the guardrails.’”
While Taiwanese should have confidence that there is no change in Washington’s policy toward the nation, “we also need to have a clear awareness,” he said. “Ditch illusion and face reality.”
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang and Shih Hsiao-kuang
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
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS