US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday called for calm over Taiwan when he met his Chinese counterpart, as cross-strait tensions showed signs of easing a notch.
Blinken met for 90 minutes with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in talks a US official described as “extremely candid” and focused largely on Taiwan.
Blinken “stressed that preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is critical to regional and global security and prosperity,” the US Department of State said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
He “discussed the need to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the US-PRC relationship, especially during times of tension,” it added, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
A State Department official described the exchange as “direct and honest.”
The official said that Blinken also renewed US warnings not to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, amid guarded US hopes that Beijing is keeping a distance from Moscow, nominally its ally.
Blinken met Wang for the first time since a sit-down in July in Bali, Indonesia, where both appeared optimistic regarding stability.
One month later, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, infuriating Beijing, which in response staged military exercises seen as a trial run for an invasion.
US President Joe Biden in an interview aired last Sunday said he was ready to intervene militarily if China uses force in Taiwan, once again deviating from decades of US ambiguity.
In the meeting with Blinken, Wang accused the US of “sending very wrong and dangerous signals” that encourage “Taiwan independence,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a readout.
Wang told Blinken that China wished for “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan and warned that “the more rampant ‘Taiwan independence’ activities are, the less likely a peaceful solution would be,” it added.
The US official said Blinken insisted to Wang that “there has been no change” to the US policy of only recognizing Beijing and voiced opposition to “unilateral changes to the status quo” by either side.
In a sign that tensions have eased, Wang also met in New York with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, despite China’s announcement after Pelosi’s visit that it was curbing cooperation with the US on climate issues, a key priority for Biden.
In a speech before his talks with Blinken, Wang called Taiwan “the biggest risk in China-US relations,” and accused the US of stoking “pro-independence forces.”
“Taiwan independence is like a highly disruptive great rhinoceros charging toward us. It must be stopped resolutely,” he said at a meeting of the Asia Society think tank on Thursday.
“Just as the US will not allow Hawaii to be stripped away, China has the right to uphold the unification of the country,” he said.
However, Wang was conciliatory toward Biden. The New York talks are expected to lay the groundwork for a first in-person meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) since they became their two countries’ leaders, likely in Bali in November on the sidelines of a summit of the G20 economic powers.
Wang said that Biden and Xi seek to “make the China-US relationship work” and to “steer clear of conflict and confrontation.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed “gratitude to the US and other international friends for their support of Taiwan and their concern for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
The international attention on the Taiwan Strait is crucial to obstructing attempts by China to expand its territory, the ministry said.
China frequently cites visits to Taiwan by international officials, support in the international community for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, and UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2758 as excuses to engage in acts of aggression toward Taiwan, it said.
Wang’s statement at the Asia Society that the “interference and connivance of the United States” had emboldened “Taiwanese independence forces” was an example of China’s conflation of the issues, the ministry said.
Wang’s justification of aggression toward Taiwan under the pretense of the so-called “one China” principle was “contemptible,” it added.
Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu
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