The defense ministers of the US and Japan yesterday reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue starting today.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met with Japanese Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada in Tokyo yesterday morning on his way to Singapore to attend the security summit.
At a joint news conference, Austin called it “unfortunate” that his Chinese counterpart is refusing to meet him at the summit.
Photo: Bloomberg
Although Beijing said there would be no meeting between Austin and Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu (李尚福), Hamada is expected to attend and meet with Li on the sidelines.
Noting China’s increasingly assertive military actions in international airspace and waterways in the region, Austin said: “The provocative intercepts of our aircraft and also our allies’ aircraft, that’s very concerning, and we would hope that they would alter their action.”
The US military on Tuesday said that a Chinese fighter jet flew aggressively close to a US reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea, forcing the US pilot to fly through the turbulent wake.
“I’m concerned about at some point having an incident that could very, very quickly spiral out of control,” Austin said. “I would welcome any opportunity to engage with leadership. I think defense departments should be talking to each other on a routine basis or should have open channels for communication.”
Austin in a written interview with Nikkei Asia on Wednesday reiterated the US’ opposition to “unilateral changes in the status quo” on Taiwan.
Although conflict with China is “neither imminent nor inevitable,” the US military “will continue to monitor aggressive actions by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] and work with our allies and partners to do everything we can to bolster peace and strategic stability in the Taiwan Strait and in the region as a whole,” the newspaper quoted Austin as saying.
Austin also told Nikkei that the White House is utilizing the presidential drawdown authority to send stockpiled weapons to Taiwan “to fulfill our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act.”
Separately on Wednesday, a US Department of State spokesperson confirmed to The Hill the delivery of Stinger missiles and other military equipment to Taiwan last week using the authority.
The confirmation came after the Chinese-language United Daily News reported that the weapons arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport overnight on Thursday last week.
The spokesperson told The Hill that the delivery was related to a US$223.56 million weapons sale approved in July 2019.
Meanwhile, the Japanese-language Jiji news agency yesterday reported that the USS Chief, an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship in the US Navy, is to make a port of call at Ishigaki Port in Japan’s Okinawa from June 11 to 13.
It would be the first time a US Navy vessel had entered the port since 2009, Jiji said, citing an anonymous US military official.
The visit seems to be aimed at maintaining visits to private ports in Okinawa near Taiwan in the event of cross-strait conflict, the news agency reported.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
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