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.
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