The AUKUS partnership would help promote cross-strait peace and stability, said US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who earlier on Wednesday discussed China with European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino.
Campbell and Sannino in a telephone call “discussed the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of China,” US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The two agreed on “the need to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Miller said.
Photo: Reuters
It was the second time Campbell mentioned the situation in the Taiwan Strait on the same day, following a conversation he had with Washington-based think tank the Center for a New American Security to discuss the AUKUS security partnership between the US, the UK and Australia.
As a key part of the AUKUS agreement, the US and the UK plan to supply Australia with a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines in an effort to counter China’s aggression in the region.
The cooperation would bring additional capacity to “help strengthen deterrence” and it would “have enormous implications in a variety of scenarios, including cross-strait circumstances,” Campbell said.
The remark was “a rare linkage between Taiwan and AUKUS” from the three governments, which have been reluctant to publicly tie AUKUS to growing tensions over Taiwan, Reuters reported yesterday.
Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) in an interview with Danish daily Berlingske published on Wednesday urged Denmark to respect the desires of people who want to be known as Taiwanese.
The newspaper last month reported that at least 10 Taiwanese reported being listed as citizens of “China” instead of “Taiwan” on their residence cards issued by Danish authorities.
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment, which is in charge of the issuance of the cards, said that changing the country of origin for Taiwanese to “China” was a correction of a “regrettable mistake.”
The will of Taiwanese should be respected, Wu said, adding that Taiwan and China do not belong to each other, a fact that is widely recognized by countries around the world.
As democracies worldwide are fighting against the expansion of authoritarianism, Denmark should be a democratic model and not equate democratic Taiwan with authoritarian China, he said.
Viewing Taiwan as a part of China would help Beijing justify its ambition to launch military operations against the nation, he said.
An annual report on the implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy adopted by the European Parliament in February states that Chinese territorial claims over Taiwan “have no basis in international law,” Wu said.
Taiwanese greatly admire the support of Denmark and other EU members to Ukraine and hope they could in the same manner support Taiwan’s fight against authoritarian aggression, he said.
Chinese expansionism poses a threat to global peace and stability, and must not be appeased, he said, adding that appeasement would not bring peace.
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
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,”
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.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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